Let's get something out of the way first, before we jump into the topic at hand: software piracy is illegal and we do not condone it in any way, shape, or form. That being said, from a software developer's point of view it is not exactly the end of the world it is made out to be sometimes. There are actually a number of different ways in which software purchases and software piracy interact, and from the point of view of the developer not all of them are negative; in fact, in some instances a little bit of software piracy can become very beneficial.

The Bad

A pirate can pay for the product but pirates it without purchase. Clearly, this is the easiest situation to condemn and may appear like the worst case scenario from a programmer's point of view. This is a potential purchase that has been lost entirely - the sole factor keeping the business from selling the product and profiting is the moral decision on the part of the software pirate. The one possible good that may come of this is the software pirate has been exposed to the item and develops a level of product awareness as a result which could result in future sales after recommendations to buddies and family members.

The pirate cannot pay for the product and doesn't pirate it or purchase it.

This is actually a worst case scenario from a programmer's point of view, despite a fact that it is the system working as intended. There is literally no way to turn this around; not only is there no purchase, a business imparts no product awareness.

The Not-So-Dangerous

The pirate cannot afford the item and pirates it without purchase

This may appear less than optimal at 1st, but it's actually not as harmful as it sounds. A developer hasn't lost a purchase in this case since the product couldn't have been purchased in the 1st place. Instead, a pirate uses the item, that builds product awareness, and he can recommend the product to people who do have the means to purchase it.

The Good

The pirate can afford the product, pirates it, and decides to purchase it

This is the best-case scenario for a interaction of purchase and piracy, barring the simpler option of a customer purchasing the product outright without software piracy. Maybe the software pirate liked the product enough that he decided to purchase it outright, or perhaps certain aspects of the item require verification in some fashion, whether that be continued support or connectivity issues. In any case, this would be the kind of software piracy that developers don't like to talk about since it actually ends up benefiting them in a end.

Solutions

So how does a programmer get pirates to come around to a desired outcome of a product purchase? That's a tough question, and one with which many companies currently struggle. While we can not know exactly what the answer is, we certainly know what it is not: subjecting all customers to draconian measures as if all users were pirates. Requiring intrusive security measures or constant connection to an official support network are both solutions that have been tried and which engender resentment on the part of paying customers.

One lesson in conversion comes from the release of the Arkham Asylum video game from Eidos Interactive. After the game's release, a Eidos forums began to flood with complaints about players not being able to use part of the jump function properly. The game could be played without using this function (albeit with some difficulty) up until a point when this glide jump became necessary to advance. The response from Eidos to these complaints was simple: only paid versions of a game allowed gliding. By making this key bit of code part of their verification process, Eidos ensured that pirates were able to experience a game and enjoy it and yet still have reason to purchase the product.