Software pirate gets six years

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I agree with most of what you say. However, the business model employed by Autodesk is abusive. They are in a position to dictate the market right now and a number of added value vendors have latched onto AutoCAD as their base program. As a result, a lot of value is being sold to professionals.
The abuse shows up in Autodesk's upgrade policies. If you do not upgrade yearly, in four years, they will require you to buy a new copy of the $4000 program. Furthermore, you do not own the old copy. Their policies toward their vendors is ridiculous! When I finally found a supplier that I wanted to work with, Autodesk vetoed the sale because the vendor was outside of my area and supplied mechanical engineers instead of civil engineers.
The upshot is, Autodesk is not earning and maintaining their clients' loyalty. They will lose market share precipitously when a new vendor markets a competitive product.
In the pirate world, there are two types of rip-off artists: those who supply software for a cheap price (if it's too good to be true - then it is too good to be true) and those who offer it at a discount but still substantial price. I almost got caught be a supplier that offered AutoCAD for a 40% discount - still $2500 or so. This looked legit but when I checked them out with another supplier (the one I couldn'e use) he followed up and told me that the price was below his wholesale price so he sent a note to Autodesk. Turns out the supplier was a pirate.
I understand the need to repay the research, design and administrative costs of software development, but remember that volume can reduce the per seat cost of overhead and the good will of the client is paramount to long term survival. Price the software reasonably and the world will beat a path to your door.
I remain legal but rebellious.

Posted by: casey.elliott@...   Posted on: 08/29/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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