There are thousands of private WoW servers, but I've never seen any information regarding numbers. Can you please back up your claims?

I didn't think there was a way to download a paid app without paying for it, but the piracy spiel here makes it sound like there's something else going on… Just sayin' the presentation here is a bit vague.

Now.

I can totally believe there would be a massive surge in people trying the apps when they're released (meaning a segment of jailbroken phone users)… and I can totally believe there is a massive falloff after these people get the app, try it, and realize it's not their cup of tea. Is this hurting companies bottom line? IMO, not much. I subscribe to the argument of 'I only tried it because I could for free, and I'll buy it if it's worth it.'

Plus, this whole issue only applies to a small segment of iDevice owners. Unlike our computers, which can run pirated software willy-nilly, iDevices have to be hacked, so there is a limited subset of iDevice users who've done the jailbreak, and an even smaller subset who actually performed the additional hacks to allow pirated apps to run.

I spend about $10 a month on apps… for the past 15 months. At least a quarter of the apps I bought turned out to be useless, buggy, or just plain bad. I wish I could've tried the full version for free and then decided if I'd buy it… I don't think that's a realistic model for a lot of applications, but it is a wish I have =)

Personally, I resisted the urge to jailbreak. The price that iPhone app developers charge is very reasonable compared to other platforms, and I hate to see it going the way of the old Palm OS, who also have a huge catalogue but succumbed to piracy that I believe would exceed those on the iPhone. But still, limitations stated above does frustrate me, especially when I have to delete apps I like (I am sort of a pack rat) or not read wikipedia offline (Encyclopedia 8.99 is too expensive and comments have been negative, not to mention a 2GB wireless download while the Jailbreak community have one (with pictures too) available for free). Still resisting…

It's already been discussed, many times, that these numbers are suspect at best. They only show up in the first few days of a release. Why? Because that's when they show up on the “what's new” RSS lists for pirates, who notoriously download anything that looks interesting. Then after that first burst, the piracy falls off. STOP TELLING US THESE PIRATES WOULD OF PAID YOU FOR APPS IF THEY COULDN'T PIRATE THEM. That's insulting to your readers.

This is an interesting topic to discuss, but it's hardly iPhone NEWS for a site like this. I came here to read reviews of great apps, not Glenn Beck-esque Fearmonger stories about a few pirates being to blame for people not buying $7 apps over nearly as good $.99 versions.

Second, what´s with the hate towards jailbreak? Jailbreak is not piracy!