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Pirate Facts Main
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Pirate Vocabulary
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The Copyright Act of 1709, tried to establish a balance between the needs
of those who make a living from books (writers, printers, and publishers), and the
interests of the reading public. These two interests, were far from identical. In
other words, the act was an attempt to limit piracy. Although the terms of the act were later amended, its impact over history was
revolutionary.
Software piracy is in other words "software theft" and accounts
for billions of dollars of losses for the computer industry every year. Prices,
jobs, and development efforts are all affected by it. Below you will find some
examples of how this crime is executed.
Copying and distributing software
Many people are unaware that making a copy of software they bought in a store
for a friend is a crime. Not only is such an action a crime, but also, it ultimately
raises software prices for honest consumers.
Making multiple installations of a product.
Now that software is primarily being shipped on CD-ROM media it is simpler
than ever to install the product on more than one machine. This is especially common
in businesses, as people often just don't understand that they need to buy a license
for each product installed on a computer. Since computers are relatively new for
most people, the confusion that surrounds the technology is somewhat of a legend.
For example, many of people like to think that letting a friend copy their software
is as harmless as lending them a copy of a novel they bought. Although lending
someone a copy of book is perfectly harmless and legal, photocopying the book and
giving it away would constitute a crime. The basic rule is when media is duplicated,
and given away, you are breaking the law-- and that is exactly what you are doing
when you make copies of your software. Much of the confusion is related to the
unawareness of the following:
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