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From: ifarqhar@sunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Pirating CD-ROMs - A Little Reality Please
Message-ID: <910@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz>
Date: 17 Dec 90 22:47:11 GMT
Sender: news@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz
Organization: Macquarie University, Sydney
Lines: 43

I have been monitoring this discussion with great interest, and I have a
few comments to make from the point of view of someone who has been (and
is) involved in the production of software for consoles.

Firstly, the majority of the posters have shown a total lack of the
economic realities of software production.  For instance, several people
suggested filling the disk with artist-produced pictures.  Do these
people understand how much time is involved in the production of such
artwork?  Two or three days at least per picture, at a hundred or two
hundred dollars per day in wages for the artist, plus capital
depreciation on the equipment used, plus rent etc.  Artist produced
pictures are *very* expensive.

Several people also suggested high-quality audio.  Sure, this is
possible, but then you need to compose, arrange, and (most expensive)
mix such a soundtrack, at anm average cost of several hundred dollars
per hour of studio time.  There are tracks you could use for free, but I
haven't heard much lift muzak I would want in a game with my name on it! :-)

So what could you put onto the disk?  Well, digitized pictures have been
suggested, though again there is a cost involved here.  This cost may be
slight if these pictures are bought from copyright-free stock, or it may
be expensive if sets and studioes must be constructed or hired (of
course the Amiga, with a Toaster or something similar does reduce
post-production costs on video substantially!)  Also, someone suggested
verification codes (not a bad idea but reading them will make the game
slow, and is eaily hacked), or "type-a-word" protection scheme (which
will *really* irritate the users.

There is, at last, a perception amongst the computer community of the
difficulty and expense in writing software, but the extra costs such as
graphic design and composing is still undervalued.  This discussion is
very interesting, but let's get a bit of perspective into it, and
realise that practically *any* data put onto the disk is going to be
costly.  The idea of copy-protection on CD ROMs *is* worth considering,
as long it is transparent to the user, and (above all else) reliable
across hardware platforms.

--
Ian Farquhar                      Phone : 61 2 805-9404
Office of Computing Services      Fax   : 61 2 805-7433
Macquarie University  NSW  2109   Also  : 61 2 805-7205
Australia                         EMail : ifarqhar@suna.mqcc.mq.oz.au