Do you think PIRACY could actually HELP companies?

Your theory is good but it will in most cases not happen that way. In your example above, the true outcome would most likely be two pirated versions instead of one. I feel that pirating is part of the struggle the world is facing today as far as the economy. Granted there is much more involved. In my mind, pirating is no different from breaking into someone's home and taking something of value that truly doesn't belong to you.

All publicity can be good. Piracy spreads content around and results in the pirate actually buying a major purchase as a fan of the game.

It depends on the company and the game. The biggest companies won't lose much money from it, the smallest companies won't get off the ground.

The piracy seriously helps the middle class companies. Some people steal the programs, tell others about them, and they are cheap enough to get legally. Plus, if there is a trial of the program, that will help even more.

Personally, I only pirate things I can't afford. Otherwise I always eventually buy what I initially steal. Minecraft, for example. I grabbed that for PC, loved every minute of it, and bought it the first chance I had. The piracy helped me decide to buy it. On the other hand, sometimes piracy can lead you away from a sale.

Over all, piracy doesn't make that big of a difference, certainly not big enough to warent the measures taken against it. If fewer people were against it, fewer people would do it. As soon as you say "NO!" there will be a whole group of people waiting in line to say "YES!" There would be an "honor" thing about pirating charities and small companies, too.

Of course, I could just be fantasizing about a perfect world again.

Somehow it can help, as the quality of pirated software is not the same as the original products, plus original products are constantly being updated with patches. Therefore, people will be wanting to buy the original product. Yes, it is hard to think that way. No one wants to pay for something that can be owned for free.

I agree with David, is is as breaking into someone else house. However, it can't be helped, piracy can't be stopped, even if the government put all its efforts on it.

Your theory is true but we are in the XXI Century today you can crack everything steal everything grab everything from the internet A Example for that is the "invincible" Oracle that said their database could not be Hacked , yea that was bull , 1 week after their adds they were the most hacked company ... I am a Pirate i confess but that is not good for the companies not even for the gaming Yes it is advertisement but there is no profit...

Piracy, as many other things, has their pros and downs. In terms on games, I think is better to play a legal copy rather than a pirated copy, the gaming experience is better, plus some pirated games don't have multiplayer like the ver from Black ops or other steam required games.

Although piracy have helped companies,my fav example is anime, fan subbing was considered piracy, until the Japanese marked in terms on sales regarding the products related to that anime increased on US, Europe and Latin America, etc. Most anime fans liked to watch the series, they create a huge fan base to buy their toys, shirts, even limited ed dvds before they where translated by a company of those countries. Thanks to that, Anime directors and makers don't complain w/ fan subbers, they even give them copy of their anime for Example Thora in English and MCanime in Spanish :)

You're right in saying that Piracy will get the game publicity, but sadly, the part where you say that Person B is going to go buy the game, rarely happens these days. People today are just greedy, so instead of thinking "I should go buy the game to help the company and workers", they selfishly think "Oh sweet! I can get this game for free!"

So however much I wish that all people were completely moral (myself included), in today's society, that's a very hard thing to accomplish.

Yes, but not for the reasons you listed. I was pretty big into pirating before, not because of of cost but because of convenience.

It used to be that downloading music (illegally) was faster than going to the store, waiting in line, bringing the CD back, opening it, ripping it then adding it to a mix CD. Then Apple came out with iTunes and Microsoft came out with the Zune store... then Pandora. I now pay for all 3 services.

So then I only downloaded movies, Then Netflix and Hulu came out... I now pay for both of these services.

I think it makes companies try harder which gives better results to customers. Apple just came out with the App store which means getting programs on your Apple PC is now easier than pirating them.

How would you even know about it if you have to buy it before you see it? My music collection exists because I buy songs that I really like.