You are correct

The service offers 25 GB of free personal storage,^[1] with individual files limited to 100 MB.^[2] The service is built using HTML5 technologies, and files can be uploaded via drag and drop.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyDrive

100 mb is still a good size for a single file. Same as SD offers and still no good to us modders other than patches or individual file fixes.

EDIT: Does allow 7z archives which is a hell of a lot better compressor that winzip which is the only file type SD allows and 7z is free

Read the little print... yes, you have 25gb storage BUT individual file size is limited to 100 mb ... for example, in the case of the 7DS mod, we will need more that 20 files... maybe we can go back in time, when a file was shared with a bunch of .rar files who was the size of a 3 1/2 disk !!! Entire directory can be download like a single zip but  the limit of 100 mb for individual files remain...

Well, like with torrent files, some cleaning was/is needed... as today, there is some torrent site who work only with "clean" files... torrent related to distribute open-source software or linux distro, to release music from unknow author in poor country who cannot pay for print CD ( low quality and free with the torrent, high quality for low price on their own site )...

Personaly, i think that it will be more useful to create "ban" list of people who upload illegal material that remove hosting place... if people use a car in a criminal/illegal way and are catch, the receive a ticket and some time they loose their driving license... nobody was stupid enough to shutdown the car factory... what we really need is some "web cops" and "web laws"... not some stupid laws like now who are sponsored by the media giant and use a nuclear bomb for kill some mouse, not being worry of collateral damage...

Not sure that it will be possible... hosting have a cost price... maybe with download page who promote other Stardock product ??? Not sure that it will be enough when you have mod like DS who was download more that 100.000 time...

Not well know, you have a free version of Amazon S3 storage service ( http://aws.amazon.com/s3/#pricing ) ... 5gb storage, 20000 get request/month, 2000 put request/month, 15 gb transfer/month... during one year... somehow like a one year demo of their full hosting service... 

People need to realize that "free" like in "free of charge" don't really exist... it is usually the way who lead to premium/gold/platinium membership... i am a linux user and it is the same there... Linux is "free" like in "freedom"... server version can cost more that a windows server version... a boxed desktop version with support included cost around the same that a windows desktop OS...

You cannot ask Stardock to spend a lot of money on hosting to please the modders... for us, modding is a hobby and we don't seek financial return but Stardock is a business and need to make money for pay their charges and employees...

PS : well, seem that similar reply was posted when i was typing my own reply... need to add a new feature to these forum who alert you that a new reply was post when you was typing yours and allow you to review the new reply before submit your own post...

If torrents were the holy grail of piracy, file sharing sites such as Megaupload would all be dead by now.  But they're not, in fact, they're thriving. Why?

My guess is that the 'casual' pirate does not want/know how/can't be bothered to install bit torrent client software on his computer. He will, however, click a link on a web site if one is available.

We can't do much about the 'professional' pirate, who is savvy enough to always find a way, but that should not be the goal either. The biggest slice of the piracy pie, IMO, is made up by  'casual' pirates. Those are the ordinary Joe users who will first search Google for a crack, but will then actually purchase the program if they can't find one - or if it's actually easier to buy the damn thing than it is finding a crack for it.

Shame on me... long time ago, i was a "pirate"... first, buy a legal boxed version of a game... after some time, being tired to insert the CD/DVD in the computer each time that i play, i begin seek the no cd crack...

Now, i don't need it anymore... purchase all my games online, cheaper that in store... same for my music, 0.59 cent for one piece of music, 10% reduction for a full album; a lot cheaper that the minimum of 20 euro in store... recently, i have begin with book, in PDF format...

Thing like iTunes store have become the number 1 in selling music... as for games, i bet that Steam is number one in selling...

Point is that several media distributor are on the right way... mass distribution via the internet is easy... people are not again to pay a fee for any media if it remain in reasonable limit... and casual people don't like annoying copy protection or DRM... sales have greatly improve when apple have create the iTune plus who have remove the DRM from 80% of their catalogue...

As for the hardcore pirates who remain, they are mainly people who will never buy the software/music/game/film... if they don't find it for free on the internet, they don't buy it... media company say that they loose million in sales when in fact, they loose almost nothing... majority of pirates are not potential customer...

To be honest, in some rare cases, i continue to download "illegal" music... mainly very old song for complete my collection who cannot be found anywhere in store today... because some a$$hole have buy the IP right and sit on it for year hoping to make a lot of money when it will resale the IP right later... in more rare case, you have organization who buy IP right with only the goal to make money buy suing other...

While I might agree with you for the 'hardcore' pirate, I definitely do not agree with your last statement. It's an excuse (like so many others used to self-justify pirating stuff) and complete BS.

Make no mistake, a LOT of money *is* lost due to piracy.

For instance, a few years ago, due to a bad crack or a deliberate delayed 'feature' introduced by Stardock, WindowBlinds would stop working properly after a while when running a cracked copy. If I remember correctly, Brad himself later stated that WindowBlinds had *record* sales during that period. Why? Because the pirates suddenly had no choice but to buy the software - or not be able to use it at all!

So yes, *many* people will pay if the only other alternative left is not using the software/not listening to that music/not watching that movie.

Well, it mean that it was a bad crack... there is plenty of fake thing out there on the internet... by example, for the Stardock game called "sins of solar empire", you can find on piratebay plenty of crack ( a few mb in size )... the more funny is that the game have no protection and don't need a crack... pretty sure that these "cracked" version are filled with virus, trojan, and other bad thing...

On the other hand, it is almost impossible to find a version who his updated after 1.05 unless it is a fake cracked Trinity version filled with other bad thing...

I think that Stardock have choice the right way... no problem for legit customer and a light DRM system for the update who annoy the pirates...

As about sales, i think that soase have sell over 2 million copy... not bad for a niche game without any real protection... if i wish, i can use something like kdiff3 for create a update package and upload it... but it will never happen... Stardock respect his legit customer and being one of their customer, i respect them... cannot say the same for all game/software company...

Since you have make reference to Stardock, please, read the article at http://draginol.joeuser.com/article/303512/Piracy_PC_Gaming ... it is Brad's words... 

Now, I don't like piracy at all. It really bugs me when I see my game up on some torrent site just on the principle of the matter. And piracy certainly does cost sales.  But arguing that piracy is the primary factor in lower sales of well made games? I don't think so. People who never buy software aren't lost sales.

Somehow, i have a similar feeling that him about piracy and low sales...

http://frogboy.joeuser.com/article/302494/PC_game_piracy_hurts_us_all

Computer games and video will likely be the first two targets because piracy of them is so rampant.  A pirated copy of something doesn't mean it's a lost sale. But piracy does cause lost sales.  Moreover, it's just incredibly frustrating to see people using the fruits of your labor as if they were somehow entitled to it.

Since it was wrote in 2008, will the following become true next year :

One can easily picture a future in 5 years in which the telecoms, the PC makers, the OS makers, and the software makers have teamed up (and you only need any two of them to do so) to eliminate unauthorized usage of a given piece of IP. If you don't think it can be done, then you probably don't have much experience in writing software. The DRM and copy protection of today is piddly 1-party solutions. 

The DRM of tomorrow will involve DRM parternships where one piece of protect IP can key itself off another. Thus, if even one item on your system is pirated (whether it be cracked or not) it will get foiled as long as there is one item in the system that you use that isn't cracked (whether it be the OS or something in your hardware or whatever).  It will, as a practical matter, make piracy virtually impossible.

I agree it's a lazy, "look how smart I am/I'm cool" thing, but indeed there are tons of money to be made from the pirated software as well as the malware/phishing, etc. attached to the stuff you find there.

Thoumsin

reply 66

The DRM of tomorrow will involve DRM parternships where one piece of protect IP can key itself off another. Thus, if even one item on your system is pirated (whether it be cracked or not) it will get foiled as long as there is one item in the system that you use that isn't cracked (whether it be the OS or something in your hardware or whatever). It will, as a practical matter, make piracy virtually impossible.

That would be perfect... only a way around that will be found as well. I did like that "extended trialware" thing with WB, though. lol! FTW!

Just because you don't know much about something doesn't mean it's not common knowledge.

And I'm the Queen of England.

Likewise I say that just because you are familiar with torrents doesn't mean everybody else is too.

I already gave you an example that proves such a thing is simply not true. If 'casual pirates' would just not use the program in question, as you say, then why did SD have record sales of WindowBlinds when the crack failed after a while? According to your theory, users would just STOP using WB. But that is not what happened.

I'll take shot at answering that, although I have never used cracked SD software and never will.

Games, movies and most other software, meh, if you can't get the one you want, there's always a substitute. There is no substitute for WindowBlinds.   Maybe a lot of them realized WB was worth paying for.

Your example proves nothing... there is no evidence that the record sales is due to the failed crack... both event can be unrelated... the only way to be sure was for Stardock to ask these new customer why they have buy the software...

There can be plenty of reason why a program have a sale increase... can be a positive review in some computer magazine or internet site... can be a new "skin" released for windowsblinds that a lot of people like... can be a lot of thing...

For example, when i wish to make a bbq, it usually begin to rain... so, it proves that my wish to make a bbq influence the climate... of course, it is a non sense... if it usually begin to rain, it is because the weather of my country is with significant precipitation in all seasons...

Before Galileo, people took the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky as proof that the Sun went round the Earth... maybe your proof is simply a "non causa pro causa"... something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation ...

Yes, and one can be cause and effect and definitely connected.

To pretend it's all just happy coincidence is probably simple wishful thinking on the part of an interested party...

Jafo already gave you a good reply, but let me add something you might not be aware of:

I'm a software developer myself, selling software on the web for the last 12 years. Unlike you, I have all the proof I need by first hand experience. Want to argue with that?

I recommend that you (and everyone else, really) read the BEST and most detailed article I *ever* read regarding software piracy, which you can find HERE. The guy who wrote it made an extensive, serious and non-biased research and debunks all the self-serving myths people use to justify pirating software, as well as accurately describing the effects of software piracy. It's 10 pages long and the author mentions Stardock on page 8:

"Demigod has been pirated so heavily in its initial release period that it has caused the game's servers to effectively go down. Out of the 120,000 connections made to the game's servers, over 100,000 were by confirmed pirates, leaving only around 18,000 legitimate purchasers."

Hmm, saw this and thought it adds a little interesting dimension to this story:

"Anonymous duped people into joining web attacks"

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57363178/anonymous-duped-people-into-joining-web-attacks/

Sounds like people may have been actively participating without intent.

Sure, why not ...

Well, i don't like your "unlike you" because you know nothing about me... as i know nothing about you...

For information, my university formation is analyst/programmer ... it was long time ago, before windows begin to exist...

In my youth, i was both side of the fence... programming and hacking with the ReDATtAcK group... well, long time ago, hacker was with a other meaning that now... was more about hacking computer for build better and faster one, or hacking software for make it work like we wish... or track track pedophile... in the last 20 year, long time after i was gone, thing have evolve badly... the last action of ReDATtAcK who to hack in a bank...

As my programming skill, for the 9 first year of my live, they was used by the army ( navy )... i was a weapons technician and my job was the integration between radar system from Holland, sonar from Canada, one type of missile from US, a other type from France, etc ... well, hacking/piracy was not really one of my problem... a lot of the coding was hardcoded in the hardware...

After this period, i have participate in a few open source project but my programming skill was from the old school...

Now, as hobby, i am become a 3D modeler... at the begin, it was mainly for... porn site... the pay is good... now that i think about it, it is maybe the porn business who is the more pirated !!!

Well, as a guy who create thing, i understand your point of view... as now, i have only know only one case where something that i have made was stolen by somebody else... was only a model that i have made a few year ago for a now dead mod for soase... in october 2011, i have found my model for a other mod on the moddb with the author of the mod given credit to itself for the model ( was the only model in the mod )... well, i have feel very unhappy at the time and wish to kill the guy... not being a rich guy, having not enough money for a lawsuit about a little 3D model, i have simply give up...

So, you know my background... my recent real life job is gardener... but it don't mean that i am a computer idiot... i am not yet old enough for have Alzheimer and forget all my past experience...

Well, i have read it... not bad but the guy seem to "hate" steam and the monopoly that it create... sometime, monopoly for a short time is not bad... i remember the time when every personal computer was with different OS and different incompatible hardware... not the IBM PC type is the norm... and as OS, you have mainly the windows and Unix/Linux/Solaris/MAC OS X operating system... two big family...

Anyway, it seem that the day zero pirated releases are these who hit the more the sales... and media distributor hate pirates because of this... one little question... how pirates can have access to something who is not yet released... i speak of the full game, not some beta... well, there is mainly 3 sources... some employee from the media company, version send to media for review or hack into company server... improve server security, add a specific marker to the code of each version send to media for review so it allow to know who have make the leak and better control of employee will greatly reduce day zero pirated version...

As today, there is ways for almost resolve the piracy problem for software and game... problem is that software distributor and customer need to adapt... for example, on my previous work, there is not application running on the individual computer in each office... all applications run on a main server... first, it reduce the hardware needed for each individual computer... and make piracy of the software almost impossible ( unless you have physical access to the main server )...

Some of my expensive 3d software need a special USB key to be insert on the computer for use the software... seem to be a enough good protection since it is impossible to download a piece of hardware... in fact, recent intel processor from the "sandy bridge" type have DRM feature included in the processor... It is called Intel insider, mainly for stop the copy of streaming media... not a bad idea but i worry more about the second feature called Vpro who have security features that can remotely disable a PC or erase information from hard drives...

As for Stardock product, i have make my own little check on a private pirate site :

- Objectdock : 499 download

- Elemental : 3491 download

- Soase : 931 download

- Fences Pro : 3411 download ( seem to be from HP origin )

- Trinity : 11297 download

- Windowsblinds : 1519 download ( seem to be a trial version using a .exe who reset the trial periode every 30 days )

- GalCiv II ultimate : 1211 download

- Demigod : 1474 download

Well, it seem that Trinity is the one who have the more "love", certainly because there was a boxed version... but all Stardock "score" seem low when compare to some other title... by example "Total war Shogun II" with 151430 download...

As for the section about PC piracy being the main stream when compare to console... well, the last few year, number of game pirated from console increase greatly...

on 15190 games pirated, there is :

- 8425 for windows

- 710 for xbox-xbox 360

- 1415 for PS3

- 778 for PSP

- 1523 for Wii

If piracy increase for console, it is simply because recent generation of console are in fact like computer, with a lot of interface... by example, almost all pirated games for the PS3 use a boot USB pen drive with the game on it... piracy was more difficult when game was in special cartridge and the only connector was specific connector for joystick...

On the application side, it is more bad for PC... on 24661 application, 18193 are for windows... second place is for iphone/smartphone application...

All in all, my own conclusion are very similar to these of the article author... with maybe some little nuance due to my own numbers and the evolution of them in the last few years...