CyberFootprint

Credit: stephenccwu

Some people download premium themes from P2P networks, install them, and blog right away. This approach has two major disadvantages.

1. It’s stupid
2. It’s unethical

Stupid

What does using a stolen theme say about you? Not only you are cheap and unwilling to recognize author’s work, you are also putting your reputation at the stake. When the readers find out that you are using a stolen theme, all your credibility is gone like a summer’s breeze. And credibility is all one has in the blogosphere. I would not be willing to jeopardize it.

“I’ll never get caught, everybody is doing it,” many crackers might think. Yes, you will get caught. Maybe not by the author, but by someone else, for the blogosphere has got a wonderful self-regulating ecosystem. Bloggers notice things, and the word spreads around.

The premium themes are developed to a striking extent of detail. They have special features, customizable colors, and improved layouts. Besides, the premium themes are quite cheap. You get much more than you pay for.

Unethical

A lot of extra work goes into the themes. The authors have to spend a lot of time creating and marketing them. It is only fair that they charge extra money for their exceptional work.

I want to use an analogy to drive my point home. Imagine you have a rose in your garden. You water it regularly, put fertilizers in its soil, and bathe it in sunlight, so one day it can bloom and give pleasure to anyone who sees it. One day, your militaristic neighbor uses your garden as a fire range. He throws a grenade on your rose, and all your effort is gone in a second.

Yes, that’s how it feels to have one’s theme stolen. For the high-profile bloggers, using stolen themes is not a way to go.

What about you? How do you see taking someone else’s premium theme without purchasing it first?