Software piracy affects the economy in several different ways. “Software piracy undermines the stability of the burgeoning ecommerce industry and it is a direct threat to innovative companies that help strengthen the U.S. economy," as quoted by Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Kenneth Dam. As stated by Bauman, in the year 2000 software piracy constituted a $12.2 billion dollar loss worldwide. As of 2002, the rate of software piracy in the United States was at 23 percent, which resulted in 2 billion dollars of lost revenue. As a result, the industry leaders also had to release over 105,000 employees because of the lost revenues. The corporations lost 5.3 billion in wages along with 1.4 billion in lost tax revenue all within t

Software piracy is illegal and results in the major economic problems found in the software field throughout the world. The laws set up to protect the copyrights are very effective. The agencies established to help deter software piracy have done their part for the war against piracy. However, the effects of the public consistently using illegal software are causing billions of dollars to be lost by the industry. Many corporations are closing their doors due to bankruptcy.

After 1992, by contrast, the maximum criminal sanction for the willful infringement of a copyright by an individual constituted a felony charge. A fine of $250,000 was given for each copy of unlicensed software in their possession and five years in prison (for first time offenders) and ten years (for second time offenders)(186).

he year 2002. Using information obtained by Gallegos and Cook, the Asia-Pacific region was the only region to see a rise in software copyright infringement. The regions piracy rate increased from 47% to 51% resulting in the loss of $4.1 billion dollars in revenue for the corporations in that region. Vietnam had the highest rate of illegal software distribution worldwide, which is currently 97%.

If this problem continues to expand, the industr

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