Pirated Software Rampant Among Personal Computer Users

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To someone who hasn't possessed or made his living creating and licensing intellectual property, it might not be a big thing.

Really, who's it going to hurt when someone downloads a piece of software without paying for it and uses it for personal profit? Or, what is the harm when a child downloads music without paying for it. So what if I steal pictures on the internet, who gets hurt?

Ask the man who bought the $1,200 graphics program for $89 from a faceless, nameless online pirate and he will probably tell you that the large software company has a lot of money and it costs too much for its materials anyhow.

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However, to a company like Adobe, that has spent countless creating its suites of highly regarded programs, it's a big deal. It's lost earnings that rightfully belongs to the owners of the organization. Oftentimes, that possession is taxpayer stockholders, who are our neighbors and friends. Additionally it is lost revenue which may be utilised in research and development of better applications. And it increases the price of the software the rest of us purchase.

Here's a really startling statistic, based on Business Software Alliance (BSA), 21 percent of software installed on personal computers is pirated. That fact alone could tell us why Adobe's Dream weaver, as an instance, is listed at $700 rather than, say, $400. It's also one reason upgrades are relatively cheap: The business is fairly sure they are working with a certified software proprietor when they sell an update, and the savings get passed on.

Hordes of software pirates

BSA, a Washington D.C.-based consortium of computer and software manufacturers, has been the frontline of defense against the onslaught of hordes of pirates, who trade in, and use, pirated or illegal software. Given the wave against which the BSA swims, it might appear a bit like a excellent practice in Quixoite-esque windmill jousting. Everyone does it, even people who otherwise seems like the moral pillars of their community.

BSA was formed in the late 90s by a group of software companies who understood the threat to their business was real. Their capability to engineer and create programs for personal computers far outstripped their capacity to protect their investment and intellectual property. Last year alone, companies such as Adobe, Microsoft, Sun, Apple, Cisco, Dell and many more watched more than $7 billion in revenues siphoned off by pirates -- and that is exactly what they think they know about, the actual numbers maybe much bigger.

Rodger Correa, a spokesman for BSA, minces no words about the havoc software piracy wreaks within a market that has nothing to sell but lines of code which get loaded onto computers.

"Not too many people really realize the amazing damage that's done to the industry by software piracy. They do not realize it's a powerful potential to undermine innovation and creativity in the market," Correa says. "It is a massive threat to the health of our business."

The licensing and copyright laws that cover applications, as intellectual property, are pretty much the same as the ones covering music, books, art and so forth. Unfortunately, many folks don't understand the gravity of this situation.

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Software versus a notebook

"a lot of people don't actually put a value on their applications because they view it as subjective (this is particularly true of applications downloaded and not bought as a set of disks in a box) Most people wouldn't enter an office and pick up somebody's laptop and leave. They understand that is stealing. However they willingly accept and use software they haven't paid , I presume because they do not know the value."

In trying to reverse this thinking and capture the bad guys who know they're stealing for profit, BSA has a lot of weapons in its arsenal. The two most visible and most effective are law and education. Enforcement is the one of that most people are aware.

"We now have our enforcement branch that attempts to recognize those companies, which might not be in compliance. We work with the authorities and the Justice Department, we do plenty of monitoring of the net and we take reports of piracy in the general public."

Those radio advertisements you hear around the nation speaking about software piracy and offering a reward for anybody who leads the BSA into a pirate are an effective tool in attracting more businesses, even major companies, into compliance.

It appears that, in contrast to the popular picture of software pirates being nerds in low places stealing cyberware from anyone they could, the biggest culprits are small, medium and large businesses, who routinely violate copyright law, some intentionally and some not so voluntarily.

While authorities gets the headlines for BSA, Correa says that is truly only a small portion of what they do and the more important aspects are education and public relations.

If it sounds to good to be true -- it is not

Correa says,"Education, for us, is helping the general public understand what intellectual property is and why it's necessary to protect it, in our case protecting our software property. But another big part of education is making people aware of the dangers of managing software pirates."

That $79 piece of pirated software may cost the end user much more in other expenses compared to the price of a legal application version. Apart from having to manage prison and fines, if caught using it, users of pirated software face other dangers.

"We've analyzed thousands of pieces of illegal software provided in the net and in virtually every case the pirated programs also contained spyware, viruses and other harmful applications," Correa describes.

Set a software name into a search engine and you probably will get returns that have your product offered at a price that's far below the standard market. Correa says if it seems to good to be true, probably is.

"We tell people to be very careful about where they buy and from whom they download. If it seems to good to be true, it's most likely a lie. Some folks just get duped though. Among the things we are working on right now is online auctions. We found quite a few trouble spots. We tell people they need to be certain that the individuals they deal with when they download are reputable. Check the privacy statement information, check the history of the business, start looking for a Better Business Bureau, or PCI compliance seal. But occasionally price actually does drive the bargain and people wind up with bucked duplicates or they find their computer was taken over by malware or spyware, and they become victims of identity theft," Correa says.

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Over or under accredited

BSA developed a wonderful euphemism to refer to applications thievery. They call it"under licensing" It seems better when the investigator believes there's theft to suggest the company owner is under licensed and needs to come into compliance as opposed to accusing them of stealing.

Software theft or piracy happens a good deal in businesses that have more than 1 computer, sometimes by design and sometimes without the knowledge of the possession. The frequent situation is, business owns a copy of a program. The licensing arrangement, which almost nobody ever reads, says it's to be used on a single machine (many permit use on a single mobile machine too ). But that one copy of, say, MS Office, winds up populating many machines. You can not do this, that is an under authorized situation--which is theft of intellectual property.

Another scenario is where a worker uses a business machine to download pirated applications without the knowledge of the operator. The program then gets used for the benefit of the company (or not). The simple fact remains it is on assumption and it stays illegally procured property and a liability to that corporation.

Either way the business and its ownership and management are accountable for that theft. Among the BSA educational tools is helping business owners get into and/or remain in compliance at the licensing of the intellectual properties.

"Software asset management" is the key

Not everyone is under licensed.

"We do come across companies who have go to the extreme the other way and they're spending far too much on software licensing. We tell them they could do away with some of the expenses," Correa says.

So how can someone know what their permit accountability is, especially if they have several machines with many software packages? There's a tool.

"We propose something called'software asset management,''' Correa says. "The first process can be automatic. BSA has tools a supervisor can use to conduct audits of his firm. Once audits are conducted then there has to be a thorough and ongoing asset management program, which in the first phases may wind up saving the company more money."

Assessing the audit is the first step. The free downloadable tool can automate the process of finding out precisely what you have on your machine(s). As soon as you know that you can check that against licenses you have. You may realize that you're over licensed and can cut some costs instantly. If you're under licensed and want to keep on using the software it's time to get in touch with a reputable vendor and purchase the license.

"If you have questions or aren't sure about a given situation, contact the licensor and discuss the issue. If you are attempting to comply and you contact vendor they'll do whatever they can to assist you," Correa says.

Correa says folks should not feel threatened by phoning BSA to inquire about licensing difficulties. "If someone calls and they wish to ask questions about their situation, they aren't added to a target record or anything like them, we do not do business like that. We are more about helping people come into compliance and understand what it means and why it's important. That's why we've provided the tools and instruction first and enforcement methods second."

To be certain, BSA has prosecuted some bad guys and has been active in getting some significant settlement money for their vendor members. The people who get caught face penalties, settlements or, sometimes, criminal prosecution.

Implementing software asset management

Here are tips to employ a software asset management program:

  • Step 1: Audit every computer in the business employing the free tools in BSA.
  • Step 2: Completely remove any applications not being used or not approved by firm
  • Step 3: Completely remove any unlicensed software, which you don't intend to use.
  • Step 4: If there's unlicensed software being used buy rights instantly
  • Step 5: Setup a 3 ring binder for each machine comprising all permits and original program discs for applications on that machine.
  • Step 6: Binder is stored in safe location to be checked out when required.
  • Step 7: Once every six months run an audit on every machine comparing it to what's in the binder.
  • Step 8: Make alterations for compliance if necessary.
  • Measure 9: Deal with employees to abuse intellectual property
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