Sounds like blatant advertising to me, Ron. Think I might go and buy something for Christmas... :( Although I STILL haven't given the Twin Comanche a decent run yet. Cheers, SLuggy

Contrary to some opinions, we do this for the love of aviation first and the money allows us to continue to do what we love.To hear the tales of others enjoying is plenty of payment.

Does that mean that in the future there could be an option during the installation of a product ofa- Purchase said product for $$$ ORb- Don't purchase using $$ but agree to send in a story of said product once a month detailing your trips giving agreement for the best stories to be displayed on your website?Problem then is that option b would enable websites to pop up with ready made stories to copy and paste :( Imagine the traffic at www.flightsimstories.com :( !By the way the above is just a joke not a serious idea!

I think earlier in the thread Lord Farrington gave the wisest advice yet. I'll paraphrase and he can correct me if I get it wrong...In essence he said that those who have a commercial interest in their IP should stop examining motives and methods of thieves and and stop relying on government and the legal system to handle keeping their doors locked for them.In other words, be proactive and bold in your security schema and come up with fresh ways to keep the ship from being boarded and taken hostage.The challenge for those like Geof in the music industry are very steep but hopefully restitution on the backend will be enough to offset loss on the front end.At any rate, we, like Jim at Hi Fi, or others, are experimenting in just that manner. :(

Spot on Ron and Jim. I applaud what you are doing and, I don't need to know what it is. If you are to beat piracy or at least win the next round then security of intentions and methods is vital. If your systems mean developers can get the upper hand on the pirates without unduly affecting the download and activation of your products to legitimate customers then this is going to be a win/win. I hope that reductions at the backend will offset costs at the front end but if not then I think we all must accept the fight against piracy doesn't come free. If a few extra dollars are required for the so many good products that you and other developers have produced for my sim (FSX) then so be it.In contrast, methods that involve the loss of privacy to billions of customers in order to protect business profits are not negotiable under any circumstances.

Here

We do however have some experimental solutions that look very promising and we've hinted at that in the other recent piracy thread.

I trust it will be effective in reducing piracy.It would be interesting to know, when it is introduced, if the increase in your revenue is commensurate with the reduction in piracy.

Sounds like blatant advertising to me, Ron. Think I might go and buy something for Christmas... :( Although I STILL haven't given the Twin Comanche a decent run yet. Cheers, SLuggy

I hesitated lest someone misinterpret but after due consideration, and acknowledging that the story was unsolicited, I felt it expressed the FS Experience we all seek in a unique way.Note: I did place a caveat and do hope the focus remains on the FS Experience rather than the vendor. :(

Does that mean that in the future there could be an option during the installation of a product ofa- Purchase said product for $$$ ORb- Don't purchase using $$ but agree to send in a story of said product once a month detailing your trips giving agreement for the best stories to be displayed on your website?Problem then is that option b would enable websites to pop up with ready made stories to copy and paste :( Imagine the traffic at www.flightsimstories.com B) !By the way the above is just a joke not a serious idea!

Ha Ha, we get the joke and appreciate the good humour. Especially at this time of year.Merry Christmas. B)

Spot on Ron and Jim. I applaud what you are doing and, I don't need to know what it is. If you are to beat piracy or at least win the next round then security of intentions and methods is vital. If your systems mean developers can get the upper hand on the pirates without unduly affecting the download and activation of your products to legitimate customers then this is going to be a win/win. I hope that reductions at the backend will offset costs at the front end but if not then I think we all must accept the fight against piracy doesn't come free. If a few extra dollars are required for the so many good products that you and other developers have produced for my sim (FSX) then so be it.In contrast, methods that involve the loss of privacy to billions of customers in order to protect business profits are not negotiable under any circumstances.Thanks for that Dmaher. Yes it is very feasible and as is evidenced by this link, deep packet inspection (DPI) is already being used, if only on a trail basis (but see below). That's partly how the police catch paedophiles and who would argue against that? The police can also tap into selected cellphone conversations and of course, in the pursuit of a suspected crime (eg a murder) can demand telco's provide information regarding targeted numbers. Police resources in most countries are short and their enquiries are focused on the activities of criminals not on the populace in general. On this basis there is no real cause for alarm on the privacy issue. But that all changes when private companies are allowed to use DPI of millions of subscribers on the basis of combatting piracy. Especially when this captures e-mails and other legitimate private and business activities." CView won't be able to finger individual users, because the IP addresses that identify each computer's connection will be stripped from every packet."And it could be not stripped from every packet in the wink of an eye. It is simply not on.Based on previous occupations, (although I am only guessing here) I would not be surprised if some governments around the world are already using DPI on a regualr basis with ISP's sworn to secrecy. I know that sounds a little like a conspiracy theory, but anybody with a modicum of knowledge regarding intelligence agencies will be aware of the lengths they go to. But at least most of our governments can be held to account. Amorphous private companies rarely can be. I still stand by my previous comments that mixing it with the pirates and getting in their face on file sharing sites may present more opportunities for developers/artists than simply standing by and allowing them to go about their activites without hinderance. As it stands the pirates 'market share' is unopposed.(if someone else wants to explore this in more detail then please do so....my posts are too long as it is) .. ..But, as you have pointed out Ron, it's not the only solution to this problem. So, once again, spot on mate.Terry

Many thanks Terry.The goal for us at least is to simply take the bull by the horns as it were with regard to our own responsibilities.We've observed that existing laws and penalties are not as effective as they might be in stemming the tide on a global scale or in stopping the bleeding on a personal or business scale.It is obvious that vendors in this cottage industry must become proactive and cooperate with each other given the facts that this issue shows no signs of decline. :( In our view, any effective technique on the front end avoids the complexities and expense of pursuit after the fact.We agree somewhat that confronting the sharing sites en masse is a grand idea and it has been discussed. So far that effort has been frustrating in that as soon as files are removed they popup again within 24 hours. The recent trial and penalty phase of TBB reveals much about the effectiveness of confronting and bringing to law those who foster and enable theft.Our goal is very straightforward. Create a technique that is effective on both the front and backend while addressing the two fold concerns of customer inconvenience and keeping increased costs down. :(

I trust it will be effective in reducing piracy.It would be interesting to know, when it is introduced, if the increase in your revenue is commensurate with the reduction in piracy.

If not effective we will abandon it for something which is effective.We already know that to be the case. :(

:( The point is made software developers need to be responsible for their own security. I

:( The point is made software developers need to be responsible for their own security. I'd say no one disputes that. And they have been too...that's always been the position for software dev's as far as I know.My guess is nearly 10% of retail on an FS add-ons goes towards security measures...the majority of a wrapper's cost*.I have to ask, are the FS wrappers keeping step with pirates?Are they evolving too? Or are they lacking?Users do pay a premium for this service.Danny :( *I think Digital River chargers 2-3% for e-Com without DRM.

At this point, everything is in need of improvement. I'm privy to discussions but can't speak for others. :(

:( The point is made software developers need to be responsible for their own security. I

We already know that to be the case. :(

Good. How many additional sales to you expect from a reduction of, say, 100 in the number of pirate downloads?

mgh,I can't answer for Ron, but I can say that based on a unique issue and message that ASA throws at the user and that they then write to us about, it happens 1-2 times a week. So since the release of ASA, that translates into between 50-100 additional sales. This of course is not saying that this is out of 100 pirates. This is out of the pirates that chose to purchase ASA.

Good. How many additional sales to you expect from a reduction of, say, 100 in the number of pirate downloads?

It

Actually, I can state it's easily quantifiable. However, I won't be releasing figures. That's like asking someone to post their finances online. Just isn't proper and won't be happening. :(

Well if you

Good. How many additional sales to you expect from a reduction of, say, 100 in the number of pirate downloads?

That is information is confidential and frankly none of your business.I recall asking you if you have game skin in this game? You've not answered nor would I expect you to do so based on the fact that such information is confidential and certainly none of my business. :(