I'll start by saying yes. Most of us. But it's not really our fault.

First of all, for all you bleeding hearts out there, do you really want to tell me you never used a pirated copy of a software because paying 50$ for a single use seemed way too much? You never downloaded an MP3 of a song you really liked because you didn't want to pay for the whole CD? Downloaded the episode you missed of your favorite series? Or maybe just jail braked your iPhone/iPad/PS/Wii…? You probably see where I'm going with it. We've all been there. And yeah, this makes us thieves. While we're paying for anything that we can feel, somehow it looks OK for us to steal something that's virtual but maybe took much more time and effort to produce than the tangible goods we're used to buy.

I say it's not our fault. If you don't mind I'll focus on the software industry but it's the same in the music industry, movies industry, mobile apps, etc.

For years now software publishers have made everything they can to keep us away from paying them. Long registration forms, giving away our payment credentials to yet another publisher,  serial numbers, selecting the right version and it goes on and on. And, on top of that, the irrational price that has no proportion to how we're going to use the software. Why should I pay a backup utility 50$ when I'll probably use it once in a few months? It's not like I'm sitting all day long backing things up and then restoring them…

So, publishers saw that we just don't pay for their software however we do use it. This fact made them come to the amazing conclusion that we use illegal copies. And what did they do next? Started spending tones of money on the best copy protection, bullet proof, can't be pirated licensing. But guess what? That didn't work. So they started looking for other places to bring money from. From affiliate programs to toolbars to ads and what not. Making money from everything they can install on the user's machine except of their own software. The installed software became a channel for the user's machine.

Even though we're at the 21st century and SaaS is becoming really popular we still barely see software publishers that understood that to get users buying your products you need to be nice to them. We, at Licensario, offer a different approach. We think that software publishers should stop wasting resources to find new ways to say NO to users. Instead, we say, go ahead and say YES to your users. What do I mean by that? I started this post by saying that publishers made it really hard for us to pay. It's time to ease the process. Make it dead simple to pay. Be nice to your users. Offer them flexible payment plans. Offer subscriptions. Offer payments for usage (pay-per-use). Don't let your users go wandering in a website for the suitable version, do it in-app. License your features or at least make it simple for the user to understand what she's paying for. Use micro payments. And don't ask them for their credit card. Users should have one account for all software content – across platforms.

This model works. Guaranteed. Apple already proved it with their app store. SaaS has proven it.

We will not stop piracy. Neither do SOPA and PIPA. I wonder if anyone can. But it's definitely possible to raise the buy rate. If buy rates are higher in the gaming world where people are willing to pay for virtual goods such as swords or the best sheep in town why can't it be with software? Software publishers should treat their features as virtual goods and people will pay for them when they need them the most. Just give them the option and be kind. You'll be surprised on users' willingness to pay:

Public opinion strongly favors intellectual property (IP) rights: seven PC users in 10 support paying innovators for their creations to promote more technology advances.

I added a poll at the end. Maybe it will shed some more light of what makes it easier for people to pay for software, apps or any digital content. I'll appreciate if you'll answer it.

If you like this post I'll appreciate if you'll like or follow Licensario.

Related articles

• Five ways Software as a Service could help your business (simplybusiness.co.uk)