So how easy is it to pirate? Assuming you have a Jailbroken iPhone and Cydia installed, you can simply add a new package source to download the pirating software from Hackulous. This pirating software is simply a kernel patch that bypasses Apple’s DRM system (or something like that).
When you add the package source Cydia is nice enough to give you a message warning you that what you may be doing may be morally wrong (see below). Since I was only intending to pirate our apps, I added it anyway. A quick install of the software and a reboot is all that is needed to allow your phone to run pirated software.
Once the phone is rebooted, all you have to do is download a cracked version of the app from one of the MANY places on the internet, add it to iTunes, sync, and you are done. NOTE: Surprisingly this is MUCH easier than actually buying it on iTunes!!
And therein lies the meat of the piracy nut. Getting Fallout 3 to run, a legitimate, store-bought copy (the last physical PC game I've ever acquired) took me more time to install and verify than it took me to purchase, download, and install Red Faction through Steam. Or, to draw an actually parallel, to install Neverwinter Nights on my laptop--I had a problem with my media, so hello torrents--it's easier to pirate shit.
One major problem is that there isn't some universal, or at least, really common, way to get software. All these different platforms, all these different companies, all these different producers, they want their own, in-house distribution channels.
What we need is an online software mall, where you can return crappy stuff for mall credit. Amazon, get to it.;;