Software Piracy
Software companies do not actually sell software. They sell a licence to use their software. Normally there are limits on the way in which the software can be used. Typical types of software licence are:
| Single user | The user is allowed to install the software on a single machine. Sometimes this will be extended to allow the user to install the software on several machines as long as, at any one time, only one of the copies is in use. |
| Network | A network licence allows the software to be installed on a number of machines on a local network. Normally the maximum number of machines will be stated in the licence. The software may check that no more than the licensed number of copies are running before starting up on a particular network station. |
| Site | A Site licence allows the user to install the software on all machines - whether or not they are networked - on a particular site. The maximum number of machines may be specified and the licence may allow employees to use a copy of the software at home. |
When an employee or firm breaks the terms of a software licence then they have broken the copyright law. Typical cases would be an employee copying software to run at home when the licence did not permit this. A business may use more copies of a program than they are licensed for or they may use software that they have not bought at all.
Employees can be discouraged from making illegal copies by restricting access to floppy disk drives and installation disks, by insisting that no floppy disks be taken home or by taking out a licence to allow them to have a legal copy at home.
Software manufacturers attempt to discourage the use of illegal software by offering rewards for information that leads to successful prosecution. The hope is that an employee will inform on their employer - possibly to pay off a grudge. Increasingly software is supplied on CD-ROM which also discourages casual copying.
A more serious problem is the large scale copying and distribution of illegal copies of software. These are produced in factories, often based in the Far East. This undermines the legitimate software houses who may have spent a large amount of money and time developing a program, only to see it undersold by illegal pirate copies.
It is difficult for an individual firm to combat large-scale piracy. One approach is to supply a 'dongle' with the software. This is a device that must be plugged into one of the computer ports. When the software loads it checks that the device is present and will not run if it is not. Dongles are unpopular with customers because of the danger of losing them and, if several different programs are protected, because of the need to plug and unplug them. As multitasking computers develop it is unrealistic to insist on dongle protection.
The main fight against software piracy has been a governmental level. Governments whose software industry has been badly affected by piracy have attempted to impose pressure on those governments who harbour the pirates. The pressure may be diplomatic or it may consist of trade tariffs on goods arriving from the country at fault. The aim is to persuade their government to recognise international copyright and to take action against the pirates.
Piracy is a real problem because it deprives the innovating software house of its legitimate rewards, thus discouraging future development.
Music and Movies
Many of the comments about software piracy also apply to the trade in music and films. The video player and cassette tape allowed us to make a copy of a television program or a piece of music that we could play later or in a different location. These materials were all copyright and the general public tended to forget that copying them broke the law. In practice those who owned the rights to these materials weren't too bothered because the quality of the copy was inferior. This was because the recording methods were analogue. So Law enforcement was applied to those who copied and sold on to others or who copied large numbers and gave them away.
Then the technology changed and we had the DVD and the CD with digital recording methods. Copying these products gave an exact replica. The record and film making industries became extremely worried. The copies were as good as the originals. The problem was Dad copied his favorite album to play in the car on the cassette player in his car. His new car had a CD player so morally there seemed to be no difference. But the owners of the copyright decided to enforce their rights more rigorously. It was probably also the case that dad's mate who had an album dad didn't have made a cassette copy for him. The change in technology here was the advent of the internet. When the son of the father placed dad's (or his own) record collection on the internet and allowed any one - even strangers in other countries - to copy the files the owners of the copyright saw significant fall in sales and went out to get those who stole their material.
They were out to get anyone who infringed and successfully sued an eight year old girl who included the music to happy birthday on her website. Most of us still don't accept this change in the application of the copyright laws.
© LEV
