I was flying along in my simulator somewhere over Colorado. I was just enjoying my photoreal scenery I created. Then out of the blue sky, I spotted a large aircraft with a Skull & Crossbones repainted on it's side. PIRATES !!! They stole my scenery software and flew off to resell it to others. Yo Ho Ho and they left me no rum.His name is Marco and he lives in Borgo Maggiore, Italy. His website is friendlyduck . com . The site says it's for webmaster associates. For a $10 trial, you can start downloading commercial software for FREE. And apparently, after 14 days you will be billed for a year's worth. What a deal.Pirates won't buy a product. If they can't steal it they just do without. A loss of sales is probably not happening because of this fact. But the guy giving such a great deal is stealing from me and others. And there are many more like him. Marco's site pulls in 10,000 hits a day. Wow, there sure are a lot of people needing something free. You can find complaints about Marco's site, mostly related to the yearly charge or not getting a product key. Funny that people who want to steal something are offended when they, themselves are stolen from. I'm going after this guy. His family and community should be aware of his actions. I'll contact authorities, agencies, blah blah blah, whatever... Perhaps I'll run an advertisement in his local city newspaper. Then again, maybe I should start a site like his and put my own software up for free download. At least I'll get 10 bucks and have more website visits.If you take it They will keep on giving it to youPS Be very careful if you decide to check out these dubious websites. If a page takes a long time to load it's because it's busy doing something. Remember you have a Power On/Off switch. But be quick

That's disgusting--go get 'em!!

What purpose does this post serve other than drawing traffic to that website? :(

What purpose does this post serve other than drawing traffic to that website? :(

I just want simmers to be aware of the frustration it causes this software developer. And maybe feel sorry for me & send me some rum

Piracy is certainly bad news for developers. What are your products?

What purpose does this post serve other than drawing traffic to that website? :(

Exactly!I've just joined - I am now an official "Lifetime Super Platinum Extended Gold High SurfUnlimited Exclusive Member".Let the downloads commence...... I Haven't really though this thread ought to be locked fast before it descends from the clouds into an all out piracy debate again

Piracy is certainly bad news for developers. What are your products?

Photoreal scenery and it amounts to 250G worth of data. My website allows me to keep 6G. I don't understand how they can pay for that space and make money. Cause I haven't made a profit yet. Talk about frustration. I used to be a pretty good pirate back when they had .ini files. But with this venture I'm legit. Even though my ex-webmaster suggested I pirate a thousand dollars worth of software. The bottom line is if I don't suceed the flight sim community loses a resource that tries to better enhance the simming experience.

I just want simmers to be aware of the frustration it causes this software developer. And maybe feel sorry for me & send me some rum

Hahahah, and send me some of that rum, too.Piracy is very discouraging for the developer, especially when you're catering to a tiny niche market like the FS market. It's even worse when you go on to these pirate websites, and then you read the comments about your software about how they like it.Well, if you like it, then please support the developers by paying for the software :(

Most of these people could never afford those addons in the first place. So while they may like it, most are probably college kids or younger, people without a lot of disposable income.

most are probably college kids or younger, people without a lot of disposable income

They still have their parents. Don't tell me they steal clothes from shops too... :(

Most of these people could never afford those addons ... probably college kids

US college students have one of the highest amounts 'disposable' income in the US. --

I'm finding it slightly ironic that pirates are paying so they can use a website that will let them pirate software so they don't have to pay for it. All that money should be going to the developers, not pirates!

And what bothers me most is where did they get it in the first place. It's delivered to customers on a USB hard drive. A little less than half the copies were sold through an I-net vendor so I don't know all of my customers. And two were sold right off the start to a 3rd party website called my usa . com . It makes me wonder if I was snookered from the start or ratted out later. Regardless, it makes me want to pursue it further. I don't have the means to rid the world of piracy, but solutions start somewhere.

Most of these people could never afford those addons in the first place. So while they may like it, most are probably college kids or younger, people without a lot of disposable income.

What’s your point? …if you can’t afford it, steal it?Kids like lego…steal it and there are consequences.But kids still find a way to get it :)I think we really need to take these issues more seriously.Lawless societies don’t thrive...:( where's Wyatt Earp?

I don't have the means to rid the world of piracy, but solutions start somewhere.

A word of congratulations to Avsim and the Administrators regarding piracy. If they are made aware of a pirate in the forums, they will ban the account. It's unfortunate that other forums and payware based forums will not take the same action. It may not make a world of difference, but it is a statement that piracy has no place at Avsim. :(