Linked by David Adams on Thu 30th Sep 2010 20:37 UTC, submitted by fran
PDAs, Cellphones, Wireless Pirating Android apps is a long-standing problem. But it seems to be getting worse, even as Google begins to respond much more aggressively. The dilemma: protecting developers' investments, and revenue stream, while keeping an open platform.
Thread beginning with comment 443427
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE: The other side of the coin
by vodoomoth on Fri 1st Oct 2010 15:00 UTC in reply to "The other side of the coin"
vodoomoth
Member since:
2010-03-30

However, I also can't believe people even bother to pirate these apps. I don't think I've paid over $5 US for one.

Ditto here. That's so lame. I can understand people not being able to afford the likes of Photoshop or AutoCAD but a $1.99 app?

Reply Parent Score: 1

WorknMan Member since:
2005-11-13

Ditto here. That's so lame. I can understand people not being able to afford the likes of Photoshop or AutoCAD but a $1.99 app?


Yeah, kinda lays waste to the myth that people would stop pirating if stuff was affordable. I mean, how much more affordable can you get than < $5 Android apps?

Also, from the article:

“Over the course of 90 days, the app was installed a total of 8,659 times. Of those installations only 2,831 were legitimate purchases, representing an overall piracy rate of over 67%. For my app, the largest contributor to piracy, by far, is the United States providing 4,054 or about 70% of all pirated installations of Screebl Pro.” The company concluded that of the nearly 6,000 pirated downloads, only 14% were from countries lacking access to the Android Market.


And no more of this 'the people who are pirating Android apps are in countries where the marketplace isn't available' bullshit either.

Reply Parent Score: 2

JAlexoid Member since:
2009-05-19

And no more of this 'the people who are pirating Android apps are in countries where the marketplace isn't available' bullshit either.


Oh, please! I live in a country without access to paid apps, but when I'm on my WiFi at home my traffic is identified as originating from Germany and at work it's identified as originating from UK.

Reply Parent Score: 3

Stratoukos Member since:
2009-02-11

I think that pirating a $.99 app on a mobile device (iOS and Android) is more about the hassle than the actual price. Buying an app on an 'App Store' requires you to have an account with a credit card. I know plenty of people who own iPhones and iPod touches and haven't bothered to setup their account with their credit card. And there are also plenty of people without a credit card, especially in the 15-25 demographic.

Reply Parent Score: 3

nt_jerkface Member since:
2009-08-26

Well that sounds like the lamest excuse for piracy so far.

It takes less than 10 minutes to setup an account and if you don't have credit card then you can use paypal or buy a prepaid account at the store.

Anyone who can afford an iphone can afford $1 apps, end of story. This is just another case of people pirating because they don't want to pay. It's freaking lame and shouldn't be excused.

Reply Parent Score: 2

JAlexoid Member since:
2009-05-19

Ditto here. That's so lame. I can understand people not being able to afford the likes of Photoshop or AutoCAD but a $1.99 app?

What about, when you don't have an option to buy? Like it's with most countries these days...
Android Market's paid apps are not available everywhere....

Granted, that is not a reason to pirate. But even as an Android developer, I can understand the frustration for people that are urged to buy a "pro" version and can't because Market is not accessible in their countries...

Edited 2010-10-02 18:30 UTC

Reply Parent Score: 3