Software Piracy
Usman A. Mian
In today’s society software piracy is a very big issues and software vendors and pirates
have very different views.
Software is one of the most valuable technologies of the Information Age, running
everything from PCs to the Internet. Because software is so valuable, and because
computers make it easy to create an exact copy of a program in seconds, software piracy
is widespread. From individual computer users to professionals who deal wholesale in
stolen software, piracy exists in homes, schools, businesses and government. Software
pirates not only steal from the companies that make the software, but with less money for
research and development of new software, all users are hurt. That's why all software
piracy, even the one copy you make for a friend is illegal. Dr. Ryan Boltz at Arizona
State University in support of this view said that, "Not only does the person distributing
the unlawful copies suffer from their illegal actions, but also users of these copies share
similar burdens. First, by obtaining an illegal copy of a program, this person in
question contributes to the economic loss obtained by software corporations. To
compensate for this loss, these corporations raise the prices of their software.
Therefore, consumers end up paying more for a program than they should have to.
Secondly, someone who receives the illegal software copy is not quite entitled to the
same benefits as someone who has the original copy. Consumers run the risk of
transferring viruses to their computer, or having corrupted disks and defective
software. They also are not entitled to complete software documentation, technical
support, and product upgrades that a registered user would be entitled. Although
these consequences exist, the potential benefit to the receiver of the illegal software
is far greater. "
Computer Companies are very quick to point out following points:
If you look at the legal side of this act, there can very heavy consequences to pay. As you
can be charged up to a $100,000 for a single license agreement violation, i.e. illegal
distribution of the software or in some cases making illegal copies even without
having any intent to distribute the pirated software. Also keep in mind that under the
revision of the copyright law in 1992 it is a felony to pirate software. Unauthorized
copying of original software violates the Federal Copyright Act of 1976. This law
protects the exclusive rights of the copyright holder (e.g., software vendors) and does not
give users the right to copy software, except to make one backup copy.
Such an example is Lyle Brenengen, owner of the Software Exchange in Fayetteville,
North Carolina. He was sentenced on May 18 1994 to three years of supervised
probation, 100 hours of community service, and a fine of $21, 822 dollars for repeated
retail sale of pirated software.
United States and international law both prohibit the unauthorized copying
of software.
Each member of the community is responsible to make a good faith effort at assuring that
no one pirates the software also remember making a back up copy for your use doesn’t
constitute as software piracy, therefore it is legal to do so. Respect for intellectual labor
and creativity is vital. This principle applies to works of all authors and publishers in all
media. It contains respect for the right to acknowledgement, privacy, and to determine the
form, manner, and terms of publication and distribution.
Because electronic information is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for the work and
personal expression of others is especially critical in computer environments. Violations
of authorial integrity, including plagiarism, invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and
trade secret and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions against members of
the community.
"According to BSA (Business Software Alliance) these are the basic facts which are
important:
Software piracy is the failure of a licensed user to adhere to the conditions of a software
licenser, or the unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted software by a person or
entity that has not been licensed to use the software.
The five most common forms of software piracy are:
use of fellow employees, colleagues or friends, contrary to the terms of the
license agreement.
software programs onto the hard disks of computers by hardware dealers.
posting of copyrighted software programs to computer bulletin boards, from
on-line services or via electronic mail.
is designed to appear legitimate.
installed on a computer which is, in turn, rented for a specific time period."
(Bentley Systems, Incorporated)
According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the annual estimated loss
due to piracy is $13.1 billion (US) worldwide, with a loss of $2.9 billion in the
United States alone. Ultimately, software piracy results in the loss of tax
revenues, jobs, and growth in the software industry. Laws and regulations
throughout the world condemn software piracy. For example, in the United
States, software piracy is punishable by statutory damages of up to $100,000
(US) for each work infringed, and may result in a felony conviction. Penalties
for felony convictions include fines of up to $250,000 (US) and imprisonment for up to five years!
So always remember that unless it has been placed in the public domain, copyright law
protects software. The owner of a copyright holds exclusive right to the reproduction and
distribution of his or her work. Therefore, it is illegal to duplicate or distribute software
or its documentation without the permission of the copyright owner. If you have
purchased your copy, however, you may make a back up for your own use in case the
original is destroyed or fails to work. Lack of copy protection does not constitute as
permission to copy software in order to share or sell it. "Non-copy-protected" software
enables you to protect your investment by making a back-up copy. In offering
Non-copy-protected software to you, the developer has demonstrated significant trust in
your integrity.
If your software came with a clearly visible license agreement or if you signed a
registration card, read the license carefully before you use the software. Some licenses
may restrict use to a specific computer. Copyright law does not permit you to run your
software on two or more computers simultaneously unless the license agreement
specifically allows it. It may, however, be legal to loan your software to a friend
temporarily as long as you do not keep a copy. Such an example of license agreement
would be software licensing by oracle.
(http://www.oracle.com/html/index.html?copyright.html)
Looking from the viewpoint of a software pirate Issue of how much software costs is an
important one. One might say if the price of the software weren’t skyrocketing they
would certainly pay the cost of owning the software. But if nobody pirates the software
this will give a initiative to the vendor to lower the prices of the software making it for
possible for the user to buy the software at the price which is lower and more reasonable.
How could copying a piece of software can effect a multi-billion-dollar organization? If I
burn a copy of "Age of Empires II", a game owned by Microsoft, how could it effect
them? The answer to this question is very simple if you know someone who is very rich.
It doesn’t matter how you try to justify taking something from him which he owns and
has legal rights to without his knowledge it will still be morally and ethically wrong. By
doing so you will not only harm the company you pirate software from but also you are
making that company raise the price of the software so the people who decide to pay for
the software have to pay more.
"Although supporters of piracy may argue it’s harmless and actually does people a
favor, others point out that piracy hurts not just manufacturers but also users who
download it.
"There are a number of benefits you get when you purchase legal software," said
Kruger. "You get guarantees that it’s virus free and will operate as it’s supposed to. You
also get technical support, a manual and access to upgrades. If you download it from the
Internet, you get none of these things."
In addition, pirates need a place to store their ‘warez’ and often surreptitiously hijack
third party servers to use as storage sites.
This problem is especially acute at universities. According to Beruk, software pirates are
most commonly high school or college students with access to servers where they can
store large quantities of programs. Campus servers often become the unwitting hosts for
bundles of illegal software.
One of the more dramatic cases Beruk has been involved in was at Andrews University, a
small liberal arts college in Michigan. Campus tech support noticed that one of the
university’s main servers was running at close to 90 percent capacity.
After removing two ‘warez’ sites, the server’s capacity was back down to 20 percent.
"Those two sites by two college students were taking up 70 percent of the university’s
server," said Beruk. "That tells you how much software is being uploaded and
downloaded on a regular basis. It tells you just how big the amount of traffic in illegal
software really is." "
(Taken from the article by Molly Masland, who is a MSNBC reporter.)
Just remember software piracy is not only morally and ethically wrong but also illegally
so anyone who thinks otherwise might have to pay heavy price for their actions.
Note:
Articles, research and quotes were taken from Dr. Ryan Boltz (Professor at Arizona
State), Molly Masland (reporter at MSNBC), Oracle, Bentley Systems, Business
Software Alliance and others.