The best way to actually stop piracy is, as Fatal Berserker said, to
not stop piracy. Piracy is stealing. Stealing has never been non-existant, and will never be. The best thing we can all do is teach the next generation the proper morals.
Preventing crime using crime won't work. I'll use the old and widely used saying that best describes this "Two wrongs don't make a right."
Just buy the music, software, and games legit and you're doing your job by supporting the company.
With Steam, Amazon, Ebay, etc. I have found absolutely no use in pirating anything. When I can get the movies I watch, the books I read, and the music I listen to, or the games I play for mere dollars. When there's a game, movie, book, or software I want, I simply wait a few months and it's on sale on one of the sites I just listed. With software, I have found that almost all software has a trial version, and you usually get a discount if you've been through them before. And if the price really is bugging you, and you can't do anything about it...use an open source alternative.
There should never be a reason to pirate anything when you can get stuff for next to nothing in the first place. Using Ebay and amazon, I've managed to get entire movie series (Austin Powers, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars) for under $20. In fact, I just got the Austin Powers series for $7, and LotR for $11 on Ebay.
Songs will cost the same usually. Sometimes you can find temporary deals to get a free song or two, but you'll end up paying $0.99 per song.
My name is Brian.
