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Software Piracy and Copyright

            The Computer Age has redefined society in many ways: computers -- and the Internet -- have brought along new ways to communicate, new forms of entertainment, new professions -- and new crimes. .
             Software piracy is the unlawful copying and distribution of software products. The Business Software Association estimates a worldwide revenue loss of $12.2 billion worldwide (for business applications only) during the year 1999. .
             The figures for the games industry are just as high. Up to 109,000 jobs, $4.5 billon in wages and $1 billion in tax revenues were also lost. .
             Software piracy is a unique form of counterfeiting. Since all copies of a software product (legitimate or not), are perfectly identical to its original, the value of each and every copy is not diminished by the copying process. There is no or very little loss of quality from one generation to the other (unlike videotapes, for instance), and the only real difference between an original and a pirate copy is the media and the packaging. .
             91% of pirated software is being sold in internet auction sites like EBay. Many of these illegal copies are made at home by people who have CD copiers- many of which were supplied with the computer. .
             Occasional copying is more often than not discounted as "harmless" and justified with the assumption that it is common practice. But there is more to piracy than just occasional disk-swapping.
             Piracy has become an illegitimate business on its own. Sometimes, piracy is actually carried on at a corporate level (enterprises which use multiple copies of a software suite to cut down on costs) or in ways unknown to the end user (dealers who install pirate copies on new machines to further entice buyers). .
             Software piracy funds organised crime and so affects more than the people involved in the production and use of counterfeited software.
             Worldwide Piracy.
             In 2003, the Business Software Alliance commissioned a study on worldwide business software piracy.


Essays Related to Software Piracy and Copyright

1. Software Piracy & Intellectual Property Rights

... which U.S. copyright laws protect the creative works of authors, songwriter and software developers. In order to reduce these monetary losses, the consumers should have responsibility that can help lessen the economic impact that software piracy has on society. Piracy denies the software developer its rightful revenue and harms consumer and the industry creating software as a whole. All software developers, both big and small companies, spend years developing software. When purchasing original software the revenue ... allow the copyrights owner to pursue civil legal actions against viol...

  • Word Count: 3212
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Software Piracy

... court recognized this would narrow the scope of software copyright protection and found this in accordance with Congressional intent of computer programs with copyright. This resulted in why currently software copyright is not as broad as it once was. Bibliography Brandel, William, "Licensing stymies users," URL:"http://www.viman.com/license/license.html#policy", Viman Software, Inc., 1994. Business Software Alliance, "Software Piracy and the Law," URL:"http://www.bsa.org ... /bsa/docs/soft_pl.html", Business Software Alliance, 1995. Software Publishers Association, "SPA Anti-Piracy Back...

  • Word Count: 3628
  • Approx Pages: 15
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Software Licensing And Piracy

... . An amendment to Title 18 to the United States Code was passed by Congress in 1992. This amendment. Known as Public Law 102-561 made software piracy a federal offense, and instituted criminal penalties for copyright infringement of software. The penalties can include imprisonment of up to five years, fines up to $250,000 or both for unauthorized reproduction or distribution of 10 or more copies ... , the result of enforcement actions resulted in recoveries from anti-piracy actions totaling $16 million since the program started in 1990. The Software Publishers Association (SPA) funds a ed...

  • Word Count: 3842
  • Approx Pages: 15
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Software Piracy

... licences for each piece of software on every computer. There are also organizations responsible for the regular checking of licences owned by businesses and businesses that take the chance of not being caught are under severe risk because they are violating copyright laws. What is Piracy? "Software piracy is the illegal distribution and/or reproduction of software applications for business or personal use. Whether software piracy is deliberate or not ... , it is still illegal and punishable by law."(Unknown2) When a user purchases a software application, it does not belong to them. When ...

  • Word Count: 1339
  • Approx Pages: 5

5. Software Pirates of America

... lost 5.3 billion in wages along with 1.4 billion in lost tax revenue all within the 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. ... at about 37%. These numbers are staggering compared to revenue losses from other sources. Software piracy has become a global epidemic that if left uncontrolled, could cause some of the major software enterp...

  • Word Count: 843
  • Approx Pages: 3

6. Software Crimes: The Ethical And Economical Downfalls

... Amendments Act was approved in 1990. This Act prohibits the commercial rental, leasing, or lending of software without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Another amendment to the Copyright Act was passed in 1992. This amendment made software piracy a federal offense, and instituted criminal penalties for copyright infringement of software. The penalties can include imprisonment of up to five years, fines up to $250,000, or ... ,000 per infringement. The criminal penalties for copyright infringement can result in fines up to $250,000 and a jail term up to five years f...

  • Word Count: 2833
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Worldwide Illegal Copying Of Domestic And International Software

... . An amendment to Title 18 to the United States Code was passed by Congress in 1992. This amendment. Known as Public Law 102-561 made software piracy a federal offense, and instituted criminal penalties for copyright infringement of software. The penalties can include imprisonment of up to five years, fines up to $250,000 or both for unauthorized reproduction or distribution of 10 or more copies ... result of enfo! rcement actions resulted in recoveries from anti-piracy actions totaling $16 million since the program started in 1990. The Software Publishers Association (SPA) funds a educa...

  • Word Count: 3709
  • Approx Pages: 15
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Economic Consequences of Software Crime

... Amendments Act was approved in 1990. This Act prohibits the commercial rental, leasing or lending of software without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Another amendment to the Copyright Act was passed in 1992. This amendment made software piracy a federal offense, and instituted criminal penalties for copyright infringement of software. The penalties can include imprisonment of up to five years, fines up to $250,000 or ... both for unauthorized reproduction or distribution of 10 or more copies of software with a total retail value exceeding ... ...

  • Word Count: 1391
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Software Piracy

... multiple copies of a singled license program on multiple computers and beware of software prices that seem to good to be true. The Business Software Alliance is a non-profit organization that fights software piracy and supports legal software usage all over the world, founded in 1988. Business Software Alliance also educates computer users and business on software copyright laws. Its members include the top software developers like Adobe Systems, Microsoft Corporation, AutoDesk Inc ... ., Novell Inc., Symantec Corporation and Apple. (Business Software Alliance) In the past five years, Bu...

  • Word Count: 1029
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

10. The Nature of Internet Piracy

... the same negative connotation of both concepts of piracy. Regulatory legislation regarding copyright infringement and person to person file-sharing negatively affects the entertainment industry and infringes on freedom of speech and information. There is a multitude of benefits to piracy, and arguments in support of curtailing the practice show various flaws. In recent years, the topic of copyright protection and anti-piracy measures has been a hot button issue inside the ... not regulating piracy. At the very least, claims of the horribly negative effects that file-sharing supposedly i...

  • Word Count: 2876
  • Approx Pages: 12
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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