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Overhype

Overhype

by Mike Masnick


Filed Under:
guilty, piracy, shame, software



Can You Guilt Someone Into Not Pirating Software?

from the probably-worth-a-shot dept

A bunch of folks have been submitting this story about USB Overdrive X's response to anyone who uses a pirated key to use their software. Basically, the company allows you to go ahead, but tells you (in a very human voice) that it knows it's a pirated code, and you should be ashamed of yourself:

usb-overdrive-x
It's definitely a much better strategy than annoying plenty of users (even legit ones) or threatening to sue or anything. And, I have no doubt that it's probably even effective on the margins among a few folks who appreciate being treated at least somewhat as a human, rather than a criminal. But, the company is still going to face this issue long term, and it seems like a better solution is to figure out business models that don't view such sharing as piracy, but a way to further extend a business.

53 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
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