A loyal user base can help reduce losses, but it won't totally eliminate the losses that piracy creates. << True. I think nothing will ever eliminate those losses or come close. And as others have pointed, those are potential or estimated losses. So yes, I'm largely saying something like "be a successful enough company to make those potential loses miniscule compared to profits. Drive customer loyalty to the bank." Not to go crazy with the analogies, but take hotels. People steal/misplace/abuse towels and other room goodies. Obviously you can't eliminate or chain 'em down--you'd have a brief run in business and some smelly guests. So what approaches do they take? Some hotels post warning signs, telling you what your towel responsibilities are--pretty cheesy. Others probably go out of their way to do a careful accounting after you leave--bill you, hunt you down, whatever. Still others provide really nice, clean, abundant towels. Maybe throw in a robe, lots of little bottles of bathroom type stuff and possibly don't glue down the tv and the remote. They might charge a little extra, or perhaps have a note that politely says you can buy their items at the gift shop. These are the places I'd rather stay. They have a perceived trust with their customers. Anticipate some loss in exchange for good will; charge a little more to take up the slack. I'm willing to pay it to avoid all that perceived lack of trust and to generally have a better experience. To the business traveler versus the weekend holiday type, these little things really add up to make a big difference. Same deal for the graphics pro: If I need to rip apart a machine for some god awful 11th hour reason--now!--to get some client project out the door on time, I don't want to worry about connecting to tech support, calling anybody, asking permission, and so on. This does come up unfortunately, and it does affect what software I pick and choose. I've crashed more hard drives than I care to remember. That Poser might be tied to a particular machine, a particular hard drive, and 9-5 business hours (or whatever obstruction--the specifics don't really matter--it's all about more effort on my part), that makes it a questionable choice for me to depend on and trust. (Side issue: That it might somehow also add system overhead also concerns me). I wonder what sort of data they have that suggests actual users are pirating the software? Sounds somewhat paranoid to me. Like most software, Poser/PPP was probably available on the warez groups before it was even released to the public. Do the pirates make any art with it? I doubt it. Any case, I'm skeptical because this whole issue is nothing new for the entire industry. I too wish them luck. And will kep you in mind for the wish list there Steve! --Patrick