Valve: Piracy is a Service Issue

Valve co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell has spoken out once again on the issue of piracy.

Newell reiterates what he’s said on previous occasions. DRM doesn’t work and pirates are not per se after free stuff.

“One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue,” he says.

“The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.”

“For example, Russia. You say, oh, we’re going to enter Russia, people say, you’re doomed, they’ll pirate everything in Russia. Russia now outside of Germany is our largest continental European market.”

Newell argues that instead of hurting legitimate customers with DRM, you have to give them something that’s superior to the pirated counterpart.

‘It doesn’t take much in terms of providing a better service to make pirates a non-issue,” Newell says.

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