Frostwire, Limewire, etc

Mark42

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Oct 8, 2003
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I was talking to my brother about video editing software the other day. I was amazed at how much some of the higher end stuff runs just to edit home video. My bro is a big MAC user, and has 10's of thousands of dollars worth of MAC products (and the rediculous failure rate is why I don't buy Apple stuff. Nearly every piece of equipment he has bought has has catastrophic failure within 3 years.). Anyway, he told me that he downloads lots of software from the popular download providers like Limewire and Frostwire.

So I gave it a try. I own a current version of Video Wave editor which I paid about $60 for. I was able to find it on Frostwire in 10 seconds. Down load it with a validation key in about 15 minutes and have it up and running in another 5 minutes. And the manufacturer accepts registration as if it is valid. Amazing. How do they get away with that? I pay for software, but someone else can download it for free? With a valid registration keygen that is accepted by the manufacturers site as a valid key? WTF???

I thought downloading music was a bad thing, now I see that pretty much anything can be downloaded for free through these free services.

What gives? How do they get away with this? No wonder the cost of software is high.
 

MTboatguy

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Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

Just be careful, there are several software companies that keep track of validation keys and once they reach a certain number of pirate copy activations, they all heck breaks loose, they just busted and prosecuted a guy in Washington and it ended up costing him millions in fines plus some jail time. Also, often times you will be blocked from updating the program, or it may just stop working, I know Microsoft has invalidated windows on a mass scale many times in the past, one day you wake up and no go, no access to your computer, but for the most part, it is a game of cat and mouse, and many software companies are just not big enough to pursue pirate claims and prosecution..

The Hackers vs. the Wackers has been going on since the computer revolution started
 

roscoe

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Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

Sorry and surprised to hear of your brothers Mac troubles. Our family is 9/10, over 10 years, with one video card failure.

As for the software downloads, you get what you pay for, and take your chances.

I have a friend that downloads everything from sites like that.
Much of it is loaded with worms, trojans, malware of all sorts.

His computers are "down" all the time.
 
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Moody Blue

Captain
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May 24, 2004
Messages
3,136
Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

Pretty much anything you could want is available for "free" online. Takes a little research and time but it is available. GPS map software, CAD programs, operating systems, application software of all kinds and types. Torrent sites offer the greatest selection but as mentioned, you have to be careful about viruses etc. There are hackers out there that are able to crack the software security as fast as the mfr's update their code.
 

NSBCraig

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Aug 21, 2007
Messages
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Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

What mac failure rate?

I won't download anything from those sites to a pc.

Virus hell!
 

scipper77

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Sep 30, 2008
Messages
2,106
Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

+2 on the virus, worm, trojan risk. I have an Ubuntu (Linux) box in my basement that I would use to download that sort of stuff. The thing is I don't believe in illegally downloading software. When I was a kid I did it quite a bit. Now that I have kids a job and a house that I worked for I realise that...
a) Stealing takes food of of someone elses table. and
b) I have to much to lose. I realize the risk of being prosecuted is remote but is it worth the risk for some mp3's games, or software?? Most any software package you can think of has a comparable free version available for Linux. Examples would be open office (MS office) or GIMP (photoshop).
 

bigdee

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Jul 27, 2006
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Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

+2 on the virus, worm, trojan risk.
Most any software package you can think of has a comparable free version available for Linux. Examples would be open office (MS office) or GIMP (photoshop).

Yeah,I agree with scipper77 If you want free software that is legal go with linux. open office suite emulates microsoft office professional suite and is compatible and the updates are free too. There are hundreds of free software packages for linux.
 

tx1961whaler

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May 31, 2008
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Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

They get away with it because some people are seriously lacking in character and can readily rationalize stealing.
 

NYBo

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Oct 23, 2008
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Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

Yeah,I agree with scipper77 If you want free software that is legal go with linux. open office suite emulates microsoft office professional suite and is compatible and the updates are free too. There are hundreds of free software packages for linux.
OpenOffice is available for just about any platform you can name. Of course, da penguin (Linux) is the way to go for a free, legal OS.
 

scipper77

Commander
Joined
Sep 30, 2008
Messages
2,106
Re: Frostwire, Limewire, etc

OpenOffice is available for just about any platform you can name. Of course, da penguin (Linux) is the way to go for a free, legal OS.

GIMP, my other example is also available across multiple platforms.

Maybe we should start a thread on good free software. I haven't found a good cad program yet that rivals the commercial offerings.
 
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