A first-time coder’s experience with the dark side of selling software via Apple’s category-defining iTunes App Store  was both better and worse than expected.

Miguel Sanchez-Grice has written a detailed blog posting (via TUAW) on his experiences with and conclusions about piracy of his popular tank battle game iCombat (iTunes). Even though he’s experiencing a piracy rate north of 60 percent (there are different ways to parse the data below), Sanchez-Grice is neither angry nor bitter, and advocates a practical approach to the issue in his conclusions about the problem:

This is one way to not get paid (6,537 x $1.99 ) $13,008.63

1) Piracy is still not that big of a problem when talking about the apps with larger download volumes

2) Blocking pirates is not worth it unless you can push conversion by giving them a lite style version
— Strategically structure the cracked game so pirates get the upsell

3) Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face
— The competition is so fierce to get noticed in the App store that any attention is good attention.

See also:
— One in five App Store titles available on pirate sites …
— iCab Mobile 1.0: Great, easy to access features and, yes, porn mode too…
— InstallerApp: Put whatever apps you want on your iPhone

Going forward, Sanchez-Grice has decided he will release a “lite” version to tempt pirates away from the torrents and help preserve the value of iCombat, which is an increasingly common strategy. This approach, which can be viewed as at least a partial surrender to hackers and pirates, seeks to balance the need to put food on the table and allow users, both paying and otherwise, their dignity.

Between a rock and a…

If you were an iPhone developer, what approach would you choose: 1.) remotely cripple all pirated copies, 2.) pester pirates with nagging pop ups, or 3.) follow iCombat model and seek a middle path?

Whatever your position there doesn’t seem to be one single correct answer…

What’s your take?

Related:

The Apple iPhone 3G goes on sale – unboxed and disassembled

One in five App Store titles available on pirate sites

Apple releases iPhone SDK, firmware 3.1 beta

Top iPhone developers say, ‘Quality is irrelevant’

Google’s Android has potential; may outsell iPhone

Entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 5:28 pm under Commercial Software, Hacks, Internet, Opinion, iPhone, iPod Touch.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Ronald O Carlson.
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