Walter said:
For discussions of what is very popular, I suggest you visit one
of the mp3 or video pirating newsgroups to see what is popular
there. I do not advocate pirating anything: I'm just pointing
you to a place that you can find out about "popular" downloading
software.
<OT>
It looks like the whole "pirating" thing is a purely Western theme and
came into being - I'd guess wildly and without research - with
Industrial Revolution where it became clear that revenue (by some
opinions, disproportionate) can come from licensing know-how - or from
blocking others from replicating it. I'd guess it took a certain level
of maturity of capitalism as a way of life (cf. "No software patents"
movement though).
It has worked (on average) apparently because the brightest minds were
rewarded for innovation. - And could get loans with the patents as
collateral etc.
Personally, I see no moral value in it one way or another; a particular
case may bear moral judgment based on prevailing yet ever evolving mores
et tempera (Is it OK to download a classic movie which I cannot find
anywhere legally? Is it OK to manufacture an anti-AIDS drug if I cannot
afford the license?)
Other societies, with fewer centuries of capitalism ingrained in them,
may see things differently: If I copied your idea (or artifact or
whatever) you still have yours, so you haven't lost anything.
IMHO, people busy protecting IP ought to factor this mentality in and
come up with adequate strategies. Dumb beating on e.g. China and Russia
won't work until they themselves develop sufficient bodies of IP worth
protecting _by disclosing_.
</OT>