Sinox,
What you fail to recognize is that without Software developers like Epocware et al, warez wouldn't exist. Warez is the blatant and highly illegal theft of software that is supposed to be paid for, either shareware or payware.
These companies pay people to design, write and publish software. Would you spend 10 hours a day, 5 days a week programming and not expect to get paid ? I think not.
So these companies make a charge for their products, just like any other manufacturer in the world.
People who crack programs are usually sad, lonely little individuals, shut away in their dark, dingy bedrooms, who have nothing better to do than crack software, attemt to write "that killer virus" , chat up underage boys and girls in seedy chat rooms, post vitriolic posts on movie web sites, moderate forums on cracking and "illegal" stuff coz they think it gives them some sort of power and they still live with mommy coz they secretly fantasize about her !!
Sorry if I went overboard there, but these people are nothing less than common criminals who deserve the same punishment as people who rob banks, convenience stores and old ladies in the street. They're gutless wimps and collectively they are doing the industry untold harm. They're scum and I wouldn't P1SS on them if they were on fire !
If you have a job, next time you go to work, imagine doing your job and not getting paid for it coz someone else is producing/selling it for free.
I do agree tho' that there are companies out there who blatantly rip off their clients in their attempt to gain bigger profits (Hey, if Bush can do it....).
So, you don't buy stuff from them. If we all did that, they couldn't make any money and would either back down or go out of business. Positive, non-violent protest.
And check out the hundreds of Freeware apps out there, written by dedicated individuals who are generous enough to write this stuff and make it available to all of us. This software is the ONLY software u can get 4 free and do no harm to the hard working programmers, who run the risk of not being able to provide food for their families coz the company they work for can no longer pay them coz idiots like you use warez.
Now THAT , my friend, is 100% acceptable REALITY
Rob.