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Software Piracy |
by Will Pepper | ||
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Software isn't as cheap as some people would prefer. Prices for software have dropped and competition has increased so that better and faster products are constantly in the demand. With penalties as high as $93,500 (individual) and $467,500 (company) for violating these laws it is amazing to see that in 2000 piracy increased to 37% and around $11.75 billion was lost in company revenue. While North America's piracy rate fell from 31% to 25% some Black Markets (areas that sell illegal software, mainly in Asian countries) prospered from the illegal acts (Vietnam has a piracy rate of 97%). Business Software Alliance is a voice of software protection. The international organization serves as a representative for all copy-righted software in 65 countries and deals with hundreds of thousands of software piracy reports. These prosecuted reports have resulted in companies and individuals paying hundreds of thousands of dollars, totally around $50 million in penalties over the past seven years. Software Watchdog is currently in development but is a program that will be a real time firewall monitor. The software has found individuals who have been illegally using pirated software and tracked them to their business. In just the Southeast of the U.S. over $450,000 in fines have been charged. Warez (sites that distribute codes, cracks, even entire software packages for free or sponsored payments of software and applications). The term "warez" is the 5th most popular search term to be used on the web. Warez are used by pirates (sometimes called crackers) to distribute software that has inactive copyright or registration components. Unlike shareware and freeware the applications that have limited capablilities, warez are completely usable software. They can be distributed via Internet or electronic bulletin board. If someone is using pirated software, warez, or any type of illegal software they lots of risks. As a business risk profits are at risk for using illegal software. Legal actions and penalties (find out). Viruses may have been implanted in the software by the crackers that may affect your business. Another way that people use searches for piracy is by download engines, such as the now-defunct Napster, Morpheous, Gnutella, and Kazaa (all links are to articles involving copy-right disputes). These allow for a user to search directly for the software and download illegal versions onto his or her computer without having to go through banner ads. With the details of software piracy out there and the trading become faster and more available those violating the law and those trying to enforce it are currently at a stalemate. As more are prosecuted that same number is being reinstated. |
Links
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| BSA Main Site | |||
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BSA Report
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| Anti-Piracy FAQs | |||
| Recent Piracy News |
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