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| What is software piracy? |
Software piracy is the unauthorised copying or distribution of copyrighted software. This can be done by copying, downloading, sharing, selling, or installing multiple copies onto personal or work computers. It is important to know that when you purchase a software, you are actually purchasing a license to use it, not the actual software. That license is what tells you how many times you can install the software. If you make more copies of the software than the license permits, you are pirating and thus breaking the law. Whether you are casually making a few copies for friends, loaning CDs, downloading or distributing pirated software from the Internet, or buying a single software program and then installing it on multiple computers, you are committing copyright infringement—this is software piracy. Software piracy negatively impacts software publishers, creates unfair competition for legitimate companies, damages brands through distribution of substandard products, and exposes customers to a range of IT risks including security breaches and data loss. The way in which software piracy occurs is closely linked to how software go to market. The different routes to market are described below: • Bundled with new PCs • Sold in retail stores • Distributed by resellers • Bundled as part of larger projects • Ordered online • Copied and installed on multiple machines using volume licenses • Copied and installed on multiple machines without licenses • Given as a gift • Moved from older PCs • Pirated from peer-to-peer and other Web sites • Borrowed from friends • Acquired from street vendors Each route to market creates scope for software piracy. For example, counterfeit software may work its way through the distribution channel to end users. Illegal software may be sold over Internet auction sites such as eBay to buyers who do not realise it is not legitimate. Organized crime syndicates may manufacture counterfeit packaged software in concealed factories. Corporate IT departments may install more copies of software than their licenses allow, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. What's more, each path can lead to different destinations. For instance, a given software package may end up on a corporate executive's new laptop, a teen's hand-me-down home computer, a new desktop at a large company, or an older desktop in a school classroom. |
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