NationStates Jolt Archive

NOTE: I submitted this issue a week or so ago, so no sugestions can be taken. Also, I'm hiding the recommended stat changes since I only want to know if you like the issue or not, not what you think it should do.

TITLE: Software Piracy at Insane Levels

DESCRIPTION: A recent fiasco in which a group of software pirates actually stole the new "Terra Cotta Pictureshop 9.0" 5 days before the programmers started writing it has prompted a national outcry against software piracy.

CHOICES:
1. Head honcho of Terra Cotta Software, @@RANDOMNAME@@, has issued a press statement, "We have been preparing a program for just such an emergency for the last several years. If the government will pass laws that allow the use of more aggressive counter-piracy actions to be taken by companies, we will use this program to wipe all pirated copies of Pictureshop 9.0 off of every computer in existence."
[effects]industries are allowed to use guerilla tactics over the internet to defend their products
[stats]hidden

2. "Really, if everyone would just share their ideas anyway then @@NAME@@ could become a world renowned nation for software design," says well known Linux programmer and open source advocate @@RANDOMNAME@@. "We all know that the biggest thing holding back our country's software industry is the greed of the capitalists who run those giant companies."
[effect]intellectual property rights have been abolished, bringing about a golden age of software development
[stats]hidden

3. "Well, maybe if the industry wouldn't charge so much for it's software, then poor starving students, like myself, wouldn't have to pirate it to get by in life," adds college student and programmer of the popular KaZoO file-sharing program. "I say what we really need to do is put a price ceiling on how much they charge for this stuff. Some of the prices are ridiculous!"
[effect]the government has instituted price ceilings on software, driving most software companies out of business
[stats]hidden

4. A man dressed as a real pirate passing by on the street declares "Arr...if we was to back to the glory days of piracy, back when we still used ships, then things would be much better. Now what ye land lubbers need to do is outlaw those infernal magic boxes and get back to the good ol' days."
[effect]computers are illegal and the government has declared 'International Talk Like A Pirate Day' a national holiday
[stats]hidden

The only problem I see is that linux is a copyrighted trademark, and they might have to change that. Or maybe I'm just parinoid.

maybe I'm missing something terribly important here, but wasn't Linus Torvalis's whole point in making the linux kernel free so that no one person could "copyright" linux?

Not the kernel itself, that's been released under the GPL(I think that's the acronym) but trovalds himself owns the rights to the name linux lock stock and barrel.

On second thought though, it probably dosn't matter.

who owns the little Penguin guy? is that SuSE, because I swear I've seen it all over the town...shit...I sound like a Linux geek


*runs and hides*

The name 'Linux' is copyrighted by Linus Torvalds (happened after a nasty incident with an american, who wanted to make money fast), perhaps it could be changed to xuniL in the issue.

Hmm...well I hope that doesnt get my issue thrown out :(

O great mods! Please forgive me and just change that..."Xinul" sounds good.

Those damn Americans. In a world full of peace and hope and sharing of resources, they have to be the only ones swimming upstream. Those greedy capitalists. Please don't turn everything on this freaking site into a rant about Americans. It's childish. There was a totally relevant discussion of software piracy going on. And while I don't claim to be the most qualified expert on Linux, I don't think it was ever really about Torvalds having "a nasty incident with an AMERICAN". I've always felt it was more about Torvalds perception of what the UNIX/MULTICS kernel should have become in the first place. A free, openly shared and developed operating system that was unable to be exploited for a dominant market share. I could be wrong though. I am an American and that puts me at a disadvantage.

And by the way, all the choices are excellent. To bad my own government can't be handled NS style.

Arr, option 4 be the best! We seafarin' rogues thank yeh fer includin' it!
-Korden, Pirate King

Gaah, infernal double post!!

I like it.

I like it.
Then I hope you get to edit it ;)

---Post deleted by NationStates Moderators---

Just replace linux with something mildly amusing, like balux. You did it with kazoo, so it should be fairly simple.

Just replace linux with something mildly amusing, like balux. You did it with kazoo, so it should be fairly simple.
The problem is that it's been submitted for .. going on 3 weeks.

Anyway, I just saw "Honda" in an issue, so it can't be that big of a deal.

I'd say leave the editorial commentary out of the issue effect. "the government has instituted price ceilings on software, driving most software companies out of business" implies strongly that software companies wouldn't be able to adapt to a new business paradigm, where simply saying "The government has instituted price ceilings on software" doesn't force an outcome on the player.

I'm not a fan of issue results that force commentaries on my society into the effects, and it makes me more likely to dismiss further issues by the same author in the future (or to be more wary of issues in general), which makes the game less fun.

Less is more in the effect descriptions.