Software Piracy
Software Piracy
Software Piracy
1. INTRODUCTION
Software piracy is the mislicensing, unauthorized reproduction and illegal
distribution of software, whether for business or personal use. Most retail
programs are licensed for use at just one computer site or for use by only one
user at any time. By buying the software, you become a licensed user rather
than an owner. You are allowed to make copies of the program for backup
purposes, but it is against the law to give copies to friends and colleagues.
Software piracy is all but impossible to stop, although software
companies are launching more and more lawsuits against major infractions.
Originally, software companies tried to stop software piracy by copy-protecting
their software. This strategy failed, however, because it was inconvenient for
users and was not 100 percent foolproof. Most software now requires some sort
of registration, which may discourage would-be pirates, but doesn't really stop
software piracy. Some common types of software piracy include counterfeit
software, OEM unbundling, soft lifting, hard disk loading, corporate software
piracy, and Internet software piracy.
According to Nasscom, software piracy involves the use, reproduction or
distribution without having received the expressed permission of the software
author. Software piracy comes in four common forms. The first is end user
piracy, and it occurs when users of software install the software on more
machines than they are entitled to under their license agreements. The second is
hard disk loading, and it occurs when computer dealers install illegal copies of
software onto computers prior to their sale. The third is software counterfeiting,
and it involves the illegal reproduction, and subsequent sale of software in a
form that is nearly identical to the original product. The fourth is Internet piracy,
and it occurs when individuals place unauthorized copies of software on the
Internet for download.
Software piracy, also known as copyright infringement of software, is the
unauthorized duplication or distribution of copyrighted computer software.
Although most computer users today are aware that unauthorized use and
2. Client-server Overuse:
Occurs when too many employees on a network use a central copy of a
program at the same time.
3. Internet Piracy:
Internet Piracy occurs when there is an electronic transfer of copyrighted
software. If system operators and/or users upload or download copyrighted
software and materials onto or from bulletin boards or the Internet for others to
copy and use without the proper license. Often hackers will distribute or sell the
hacked software or cracked keys. The developer does not receive any money for
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5. Software Counterfeiting:
The illegal duplication and sale of copyrighted material with the intent of
directly imitating the copyrighted product.
6. CD-R Piracy:
The illegal copying of software using CD-R recording technology
7. Download piracy:
The uploading of software onto an Internet site for anyone to download a
copy.
8. Soft lifting:
Occurs when a person (or organization) purchases a single licensed copy
of a software program and installs it onto several computers, in violation
of the terms of the license agreement.
Another technique used by software pirates is to illegally obtain a registered
copy of software. Pirates purchase the software once and use it on multiple
computers. Purchasing software with a stolen credit card is another form of
software piracy. Unfortunately there are many kinds of software piracy that has
hampered the software industry.
These types of software piracy have hampered the software industry. For the
software industry to prosper and further develop useful software for consumers
please support and pay for software. This results in better software for all.
Punishment:
Under the Indian Copyright Act, a software pirate can be tried
under both civil and criminal law. The minimum jail term for
software copyright infringement is seven days, and the
maximum jail term is three years. Statutory fines range from a
minimum of 50,000 to a maximum of 200,000 rupees.
Remediation
Indian courts can take a variety of measures designed to grant relief to copyright
holders whose rights have been infringed. One of these measures is ordering
that all infringing copies--including master copies--be impounded and
destroyed. Another way that courts grant relief to copyright holders is through
monetary compensation, which can consist of monetary damages, statutory
damages, court costs and attorney fees.
Software piracy comes in many different forms. The three most common type
are End- User Piracy, Internet Piracy and Reseller Piracy.
a. End-User Piracy
End-User Piracy, sometimes referred to as soft-lifting copying, is prevalent in
the workplace. To illustrate, one copy of software has been purchased for a
particular machine and that same piece of software is installed on several
different computers without the proper documentation (multiple site licensures).
In some cases, employees will also install that same piece of software on their
home computers. In addition to installing one software application on several
different computer systems, some organizations/businesses are also guilty of not
reporting the proper number of stations that will actually be using a particular
software application. End-user piracy also deals with individuals swapping
copies of software programs with friends or family members.
b. Internet Piracy
Internet piracy is rapidly becoming the fastest and easiest way to receive pirated
software. Many companies allow consumers to download software from the
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Internet. This eliminates the need to make several trips to the store or sending
out copies of software on CD-ROM or floppy disk. However, these simple and
time saving techniques have also increased Internet piracy. Internet piracy can
occur in many different forms such as downloading or uploading software
from/to a bulletin board, attaching a copy of software via email and/or
transmitting software programs via file transfer protocol (FTP).
c. Reseller Piracy
Reseller piracy, also known as counterfeiting and hard disk loading, happens
when a legal copy of software is duplicated and distributed on a massive
amount of personal computers and/or to consumers as a legal software
application. This type of piracy can be very difficult to identify due to the very
sophisticated manner in which the software is duplicated and presented to the
individual and/or organization.
employer and break an application, distributing the software for free or perhaps
gaining notoriety themselves by damaging the credibility of the manufacturer or
the application.
Individuals and organizations may be unwilling to pay what they perceive
as high prices for additional licenses or there may be no money left in the
budget and they feel a need to copy or crack the application. The application
may be copied for a short-term solution to an existing problem such as a project
overrun of scope and budget. In this case, individuals or organizations can copy
and deploy the software, which allows the hiring of additional resource(s) to
complete the project within scope.
Hackers perceive breaking the application as a personal challenge and get
personal satisfaction when theyve hacked the application. Hackers have broken
into applications to highlight the applications weakness in hopes that the
software developer rectifies the identified weaknesses and produces a more
secure product. Convenience is often a factor for individuals and organizations
that will copy an application for immediate use, making the copying process
more convenient than obtaining a new license. While believing this one off
event will not have any ethical or financial impact, the accumulation of these
events leads to severe piracy issues worldwide.
A lot of people cited the cost of games as a major reason for pirating.
Many were kids with no cash and lots of time to play games, but many were
not, wrote Harris. Postiches games are priced between $19-23, and Harris said
that he was surprised that so many people thought that was too high.
Although there were many and varied complaints about tech support,
game stability, bugs and system requirements, it was interesting to hear so many
complaints about actual game design and gameplay, Harris said. Many people
agreed that though todays games look fantastic, they got boring too quickly,
were too derivative, and had gameplay issues. Another quality complaint:
Demos are too short and people feel that theyre often not representative of the
final product. People dont like DRM, we knew that, but the extent to which
DRM is turning away people who have no other complaints is possibly
misunderstood. If you wanted to change ONE thing to get more pirates to buy
games, scrapping DRM is it.
Software piracy is a serious issue that impacts the bottom line for
software developers. By implementing a security plan for software protection,
software developers gain the benefits of protection from piracy as well as obtain
the ability to implement additional license models. A security implementation
plan that balances the time and resources with the desired outcome is possible
given the wide range of security options. Developers can additionally choose a
phased approach to the security implementation if time or resources are
constrained in the short term.
a. Legal Measures
The law prevents piracy by creating a fear of the consequences that being
caught pirating will bring. Legal systems in the United Kingdom, the United
States of America, and countries that have inherited much of their legal systems
from these two countries and their earlier origins provide legislation to allow
prosecution of pirates through copyright, software patents (Nichols 1999), and
software licensing. To impose a fear of consequences, there must be some form
of liability for the act of software piracy and this liability must be able to be
proven in a court of law. The liability may rest with the pirate, the provider of
the distribution channel, the end-user, or a combination of these (Stern 1996).
Historically, copyright evolved out of the printing revolution that followed
Gutenbergs invention of the printing press. Copyright law is based almost
entirely around this print paradigm and its associated concepts of the
permanence of a publication and its repeated availability.
Software licences are essentially a contract between the user (and users)
of a given item of software and the manufacturer or distributor. Most
commercial software requires some form of acknowledgement from the user
that they have read and understood the terms of the accompanying licence and
agree to abide by these terms when they use the software. Many types of
licensing are available, ranging from site licences that allow all users in a
given geographical location or set of network addresses to use copies of
software, to simple single-user agreements that prevent any duplication at all.
Some software licences include clauses that require the owner of the software
licence to submit to regular audits of their premises to determine their
compliance with the licence conditions. While such clauses are not usually
found in single end-user licences, an attempt to do so was recently made.
Inprise the manufacturers of the Borland brand of development products
(Borland 2002) inserted a compulsory audit clause in the single-user licence
for JBuilder 5 and Kylix 2. After much protest from the user communities of
these products the clause was withdrawn.
b. Ethical Measures
Pointing out the ethical issues of software piracy to members of the piracy
supply chain is another way to counter piracy. Pfleeger suggests that the right
to fair compensation is a basic principle of universal ethics (Pfleeger 1997).
If we consider that purchasing software is the only fair compensation for the
authors and distributors of that software, then software piracy is in breach of
this set of ethics.
One type of ethical piracy counter-measure is an appeal in which a
publicity campaign attempts to persuade pirates, distributors or end-users of the
error of their ways. Another measure is an amnesty, where possessors of
illegitimate software are encouraged to surrender the goods with no risk of
prosecution. Shareware may also be considered an ethical counter-piracy
control, where the software itself presents an appeal to the user to pay for the
products they are using if they like it and continue to use it. The BSA fund
frequent advertising campaigns in an attempt to steer public thinking towards
the view that software piracy is an illegal and economically damaging activity.
These campaigns are in the form of letters to legislators and prominent
newspapers, and paid print and media advertising.
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c. Technical Measures
A large number of ways to prevent software piracy at the technical
level have been researched and implemented. A distinction can be
drawn between those controls that act to prevent the duplication of
software, and those that increase the likelihood of offenders being
caught and prosecuted.
14. SOLUTIONS
Conclusion
References
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Software-Piracy-132251.html
http://www.rfidjournal.com/
http://www.gesturetek.com/
www.google.com
http://www.slideshare.net/Mbradber/software-piracy-powerpointpresentation-774396
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/software_piracy.html
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/piracy/default.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement_of_software