It’s
Best To Avoid It At All Costs
Like
electronic identity theft, computer viruses, and the spread of other computer
crimes, software piracy is on the rise. The problem with software piracy is
that software costs make this illegal activity appealing to the end user. After
all, who is it going to hurt? Rich software companies?? This article
investigates software piracy as a whole and the impact that it has on the
computer using industry.
The
most vulnerable victims of software piracy are software businesses or
independent programmers who create and distribute commercial software or
shareware. We described shareware in another article, but because both
commercial software and shareware require payment, they’re the target of
pirates who seek to make these kinds of programs free to use.
Depending
on their binding legal agreements, licensing typically allows the use of a
single program on a single computer. This set up is usually fine for a user who
uses software at home on one computer. But in an environment where there are
five, ten, twenty or more computers, buying a license for each computer can be
down-right costly. So costly that the temptation to pirate a little software
here and there can be pretty tempting.
Co-workers
are familiar with this temptation and they’re often the ones who “share”
purchased software among those who need it. However the same temptation also
prompts others to knowingly or unknowingly buy bootleg copies of commercial
software or registered shareware.
As
tempting as it is, it’s still illegal and the punishments/fines for sharing
commercial or registered software is too much for one to bear. In recent news,
“Yahoo China loses music piracy case (AP via Yahoo! News) A court has ordered
Yahoo Inc.'s China subsidiary to pay $27,000 for aiding music piracy, the
company and a music industry group said Tuesday.“[1]
Additionally, “EU lawmakers approve prison terms, fines for major commercial
piracy (International Herald Tribune) EU lawmakers voted Wednesday for
legislation that would set prison sentences and fines for large-scale
commercial piracy, but exempt patents and copying carried out for personal
use.” [2]
Fortunately,
there are alternatives. Schools can research student versions of commercial
software or ask for a school discount. Just because school rates aren’t
advertised, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t available. Freeware or open source software (also
described in another one of our articles) is another alternative to pirating
commercial-ware, as well as shareware. And using older versions of programs
could additionally reduce the costs associated with commercial versions.
Up
until recently, public opinion held little faith in freeware or open source
software – often regarding it as low-quality knock-off’s of better known
commercial products. But if you take a good look at what’s being offered at no
cost, you may be in for a big surprise. The quality of today’s freeware and
open source software created a strong rift among the commercial community and
it’s literally driving the competition bananas! So much so, that even some well
known software development corporations have joined the cause and built a few
freeware open source products of their own!
If you
can remember that there are hoards of alternatives to costly commercial
software (and you make the effort to get it), you’ll discover that you can keep
up with the rest of the computer industry at a significantly cheaper cost than
if you attempted to pay your way down the software aisle. Software piracy just
isn’t the answer.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon