Amazing. I’ve already spotted several warez sites that offer supposedly cracked versions of FeedDemon 2.6, despite the fact that FeedDemon is now free.
That’s right, folks – instead of safely downloading the free version from our site, you can download it from a warez site, where it may come with all sorts of bonus payloads!
Wow, I don’t even know what to say to that. Seriously, I was trying to think of something clever to say but that’s just… it’s just… wow.
I was not surprised to see someone proceeded to crack and post the software. I’ve had long discussions with students on the practice and I’m sad to report some people really think they should not have to pay for software. In the case of Feeddemon, I think they simply have not gone to the site and seen the program is now free. For me, this simply continues to prove people fail to “go to the source” regarding software. If they visited Newsgator this week, they would have know it’s free.
Despite this development, my thanks to the you and your team for a great release. As a long time user, this a great development to have the software for free.
Jerry
…and haven’t you pulled the trial version???
I would be halfway tempted to whip up my own “crack” with the same name that all it does is throw a pop-up that says “Hey bright boy, FeedDemon is now FREE!” with the “You so stupid” sound clip from the “Wheel of Fish” segment of Weird Al’s UHF movie looping over and over like a YTMND :)
How does it feel not to have to worry about FeedDemon licensing anymore, Nick? Is there now more time in your day for other development? From a technical point of view it must have simplified the install procedure and the back-end support (licensing servers, sending out emails, forgotten keys, payment handling etc.), right?
@Dan: honestly, since NewsGator’s support team handled the vast majority of registration issues, removing activation has made much more difference to them than it has to me. But I have to admit to strong feeling of glee as I ripped the activation routines out of my code :)
At times I wonder if it would be legal for software vendors to release a “Warez ready” version of their software. In that seed these sites with time bombed software that’s easy to crack.. then after x number of days, the Hard drive is wiped clean or something along those lines.
Basically what ways can the industry retaliate to software piracy by “poisoning the well”… make these folks scared of clicking on the .exe or .dmg
It could also apply to video/audio? :)
Scott,
You don’t. Or at least, I’ll be refusing to use any software from any vendor who does that kind of stuff. It’s a *really* bad idea for a whole range of reasons.
(Even leaving aside the moral and legal issues, if viruses and worms can’t make the people who download random things cautious of clicking on it, I doubt anything else is going to have much effect.)
Maybe the crack isn’t for the software, it’s so you can get a newsgator account?
So it’s kinda like when Radiohead released their album and you could download it for free yet people were still throwing it up on torrent sites. Gotta love it…
@Dave: getting a NewsGator account is free, too.
LOL – funny story
You can’t blame people for wanting FeedDemon so bad – it’s a great program… and add on top that it’s free!
Not surprised.