Software Piracy

Software Piracy

Software Piracy, which is the act of illegally copying and editing media, is a prevalent problem around the globe. It is considered a form of copyright infringement and breaks various intellectual property laws. Software piracy is a crime that is civil law, but can branch into federal cases. Despite federal opposition, piracy has been on the rise for the past few years. This is mainly due to the anonymity of the crime, because the majority of the crimes are committed over the Internet. Despite the unsuccessful attempts at stopping piracy, media piracy is a solvable problem. However, you must think of the causes of piracy. Software pirates like most things, are created not born. Software piracy is a problem around the globe; however, this problem can be easily solved through reforms and revisions of intellectual property laws, the removal or revision of digital rights management, and the reduction of software prices.

Intellectual property laws are laws that grant specific people ownership and exclusive rights over intangible assets. Intellectual property laws are broken down into two separate categories: Industrial property and copyright. Industrial property laws protect inventions and industrial designs. Copyright laws protect literary, artistic, and technology-based works (Understanding copyright, WIPO). Copyright laws enable authors to have restrictive control over their creations. No one is allowed to copy, distribute, or alter their creation without their knowledge and consent. This enables the creators to sustain a limited monopoly on their creations. Due to this limited monopoly, purchasers of software do not actually own said software. They are only licensing it from the owner. They do not have any control over the use of the product that they purchased. People share things regardless, and this is against copyright laws. Copyright laws are not limitless though. Standard protection has the duration of 20 years. Unfortunately, technology continues to expand at an exponential rate, and because of this the 20 year duration is far too long. From a technological standpoint, the knowledge used to create that specific software could be used to create other impressive software. After that initial 20 years has passed, that knowledge will be outdated and surpassed. The 20 year duration places a hindrance on developing technology. It restricts developers from improving upon already created technology. This is where cracked software comes into play. Cracked software, or modded software, is software that has been modified by someone who does not own its rights. Cracked software is modified in many ways such as making the software open source, removing bad features and etc. Crack software is illegal because it is a modification of the protected software. This modification goes against copyright laws. This does not matter as cracked software is the majority of the software that is pirated and traded across the internet. This shows that people who pirate this software are trying to circumvent unfair copyright laws. Intellectual rights are becoming a huge problem because it is limiting what the public is able to do with the property that they purchase.

Media restrictions are becoming a huge problem, mainly with the emergence of Digital Rights Management. Digital Rights Management is an imposed control technology that places limitations on digital content. Some opponents of the DRM even go so far to nickname it Digital Restrictions Management (What is DRM?) The most basic form of these restrictions are serial keys that are required during the installation. Some restrictions can get very complex. Some restrictions, such as the ones on Windows Media Player 11, monitor what files you open on your computer and stop you from open certain files. In this situation, the producer is not only maintaining third party control of your computer, they are also invading your privacy. This is causing huge amounts of problems with users. The DRM was created in order to weed out pirates, in order to make them purchase the software or media legitimately. However, it is only starting to become a burden on the user. It has many shortcomings such as not allowing the same software to be on two different machines, and disabling some parts of the software if suspicious activity occurs. The DRM sometimes causes problems with legitimate users computers and hardware. People who are paying good money in order to use this software should not be having these types of problems. (Fort Bragg). The DRM is a fine example of a reason why people crack software. In order to circumvent these restrictions, developers modify the code of the software. This hassle-free software would give people another reason to pirate. People are not going to pay for something that will give them problems when they can obtain it for free. (Gopal) The motto of the law in the US is “innocence until proven guilty”. Why are the software producers placing these restrictions on the people who they believe purchased the files legally?

Surprisingly enough, the main reason why people pirate software is because of the cost (Fowler). Software is expensive and with expanding technology it only seems to be increasing in value. Many people just cannot afford the high cost of software and thus pirate it to avoid paying. One such software which could be considered an exuberant amount of money is the Adobe Creative Suite, which costs over two thousand dollars. This piracy can be intentional by downloading or this can be accidental such as by borrowing software installation disc from a co-worker or friend. Many people are in the latter group with the majority being high school and college students. Either way, the action is still illegal. If the prices of the software were reduced, less people would pirate software and more would consider purchasing it. Realistic prices for software would bring the market back into the view of the consumer.

Software piracy continues to strive regardless of opposition. Piracy causes losses for corporations around the globe. Fixing the causes of this piracy would be one way in order to prevent it from occurring. Every problem has its source; unfortunately the sources of piracy are the forces against it.

Work Cited

Fowler, Simon. “Software Piracy”. HomeNetworkHelp.

Gopal, Ram. “International Software Piracy: Analysis of Key Issues and Impacts”.

Information Systems Research. Vol. 9, No.4. December 1998.

“Software Piracy”. Fort Bragg.

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.Stallman, Richard. “Did You Say “Intellectual Property”? It's a Seductive Mirage”.

GNU Operating System. < http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.xhtml>

“Understanding Copyright and Related Rights.” World Intellectual Property Organization.

“What is DRM?”. Defective By Design. < http://www.defectivebydesign.org/>