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| 12.12.2006Piracy...
Reading McKay Salisbury's opinion piece on how "sharing games and music is a form of marketing" was initially an infuriating little exercise. As the son of immigrants who ran a small retail business for twenty years, I have an almost allergic response to the idea of legitimizing theft.
How is cracking cd codes different on a moral level from physically stealing a product from the shelves of a store? I would hope that most can admit that the major difference between the two acts lies simply in the difference in probability that one will be held accountable for breaking the law. Though not having enough money is no justification for stealing, however, there does seem to be a point to be made concerning the high price point of video gaming as a hobby and its subsequent inaccessibility to unemployed youths or families in a lower income bracket.
Perhaps it's not just consumer greed that motivates pirates to steal, with the industry always insisting on newer, flashier and more expensive products. This holiday season, with new consoles being released and the next generation consoles showing up with several hundred dollar price tags, shouldn't the real story so far be the surprisingly high sales figures of PS2 and Gameboy Advance? The fact that these two platforms, though no longer in the spotlight, still seem to be selling well can be attributed in large part to their existence as a more affordable option for many. The success of lower priced gaming options would seem to be the industry's best weapon against the threat of piracy.-Beum-Ho Chung
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Letters to the Editor
