Whether the numbers quoted by 24/7 Wall St. are factual or not (the numbers they quote are not all that outrageous. However, if they don’t have a way of backing up the numbers with facts…), there is a problem with piracy on the iPhone/iPod touch. Right now it’s way too easy to do. If something could be done to make pirating difficult to do, that would be a huge leap forward.

Plus, if this iSlate thing is really going to happen, Apple is definitely going to need something to protect developers. That platform will attract larger developers like Adobe and the CS products. There is a huge potential for all kinds of powerful software that will cost way more than a dollar. Piracy will be much more desirable on such a platform.

Most indie developers that I follow consider piracy a risk of doing business. They don’t like it, but they also realize they can either spend months or years making their software more unbreakable or they can put that same energy into making their product better and more attractive/beneficial for their users (while at the same time attracting more paying customers).

I think it’s stupid that people want to pirate an app, $0.99, $4.99 or otherwise. But I don’t think places such as 24/7 Wall Street help by releasing ludicrous reports touting unprovable numbers which rely on the ridiculous premise that every pirated app equates to a lost sale. It’s unbelievable to the point that many people are inclined to think the problem simply isn’t that bad, otherwise there’d be no reason for such exaggeration.

No matter whether the facts are correct or not, Apple still needs to get off it’s backside and put together some sort of protection to attempt to prevent piracy. EOS.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.

http://techdirt.com/articles/20100113/1434217734.shtml

Also, yeah, somebody is pulling numbers out of their ass.