Software Piracy :: essays research papers

Software PiracyWhat is Software PiracyThe PC patience is just over 20 years old. In those 20 years, both(prenominal) the qualityand quantity of available software programs have increased dramatically.Although approximately 70% of the worldwide market is today supplied bydevelopers in the United States, significant development work is occurring inscores of nations around the world. But in both the United States and abroad,unauthorized copying of personal computer software is a serious problem. Onaverage, for every authorized copy of personal computer software in use, atleast one unauthorized copy is made. Unauthorized copying is kn receive as softwarepiracy, and in 1994 it cost the software intentness in excess of US$15 billion.Piracy is widely practiced and widely tolerated. In some countries, legalprotection for software is nonexistent (i.e., Kuwait) in others, laws areunclear (i.e. Israel), or not enforced with sufficient commitment (i.e., thePRC). Significant piracy losses ar e suffered in virtually every parting of theworld. In some areas (i.e., Indonesia), the rate of unauthorized copies isbelieved to be in excess of 99%.Why do People Use Pirated Software?A study reason for the use of pirated software is the prices of theREAL thing. Just walk into a CompUSA, Electronics Boutique, Computer City,Egghead, etc and you will notice the expensive price tags on copies of the mostnormally used programs and the hottest games. Take the recent Midwest Microholiday catalogue for example and notice the prices. Microsoft Windows 95 $94,Microsoft Office 95 $224, Microsoft Visual C++ $250, Borland C++ $213, CorelDraw 7 $229, Corel Office Professional 7 $190, Lotus Smartsuite 96 $150,Microsoft Flight Simulator95 $50, Warcraft 2 $30. The list goes on and on andthe prices for the programs listed above were only kick upstairs versions. Users ofthe software listed above include anywhere from large companies kindred AT&T toyourself, the average user at home. Although a $ 30 game like Warcraft 2 doesntseem like much, by the time you finish reading this paper, it will seem like afortune.Ease of AvailabilitySince the law states distinctly that making a copy of what you ownand distributing it or installing more than one copy of one piece of software ontwo distract computers is illegal, then why do the average Joes like you and usstill do it? There are many answers to that question and all of them seem authentic except that no answers can be legally justified. A friend borrowinganother friends Corel draw or Windows 95 to install on their own PC is socommon that the issue of piracy probably doesnt even come to mind right away or