No real pictures in this post I'm afraid. In SL there is a lot of commotion about copy-botting and in world theft yet I don't see so much about pirated programs (such as Photoshop, Maya, 3D Studio Max, etc.) being used to create "Legitimate" products.
The reason why I'm bringing this up is that yesterday my friend told me that he found out a good friend of his, one that he admires for her skills, her "honesty" and her intense views on content theft and copybotting pirated all of the programs she uses to create and SELL her "legitimate" products. He told me she's very much against such things as copybotting and stolen content and was surprised to see her say that she in fact admittedly pirates all of her programs after discussing his idea of saving up for a new program to further advance his creations with.
Further more my friend is now terribly confused. He has willingly given her a large parcel of land, free of rent or charge and does not know whether to allow her to continue using it or telling her that he'd rather not have someone who uses pirated programs on his sim. Should he allow her to use the land? I think not. She's making profit off of stolen products. In my terribly personal and biased opinion I find that stealing is stealing and I will personally not buy anything from her. Which is a shame as I rather liked her jewelry and clothing. My friend has also made the decision to no longer purchase anything from her or wear her items and he feels that would be promoting theft, something he has been fighting against for some time now whether it be copybotting, copyrighted/trademarked images/logos or products made from stolen programs.
And now I ask you these questions:
Do you think using a pirated program such as Photoshop or Maya to create content (whether for profit or not) is wrong?
Would you purchase from someone who you know is using a pirated program?
I'd really like too know some answers for these questions as I myself feel strongly on this issue.
