Indie Gamer finds out Why Pirates Steal

In a well publicized move indie gamer Cliff Harris of Positech asked pirates why they’d steal a game over buying it, and the DRM (digital rights management) answer came through loud and clear. Why buy a game and then struggle with the disabling “protections” when you can get something freer?

In many cases DRM ensures that pirates get the superior version of the game, while people who purchased the boxed game have to put up with annoying piracy counter-measures. This issue became even more surreal last month when Ubisoft used an actual crack from the piracy scene to “fix” an issue customers were having with Rainbow Six Vegas 2. The truth is that as long as DRM hurts gamers while pirates enjoy more stable releases, there will always be an incentive to steal.

That quote is from Ars Technica, which has a summarized list of all the top answers to the Why Steal it? question.