Software Piracy Essay

In the global market that we leave in companies are trying to find any and everyway that they can to get ahead in their respective markets. This most of the time brings out the most innovate thinkers that can come up with a way to keep it’s company on top of their market and sometimes we see that there are companies that like to take a short cut by using non legal and malicious methods. According to Lewis, (1985), Software piracy is the illicit copying of the operating instructions and applications programs, which make computers work, is a large and growing industry. The Pirate Bay is part of a European social and political movement that opposes copyrighted content and demands that music, videos, TV shows, and other digital content be free and unrestricted. In the words of the Pirate Party, “the Pirate Bay is a unique platform for distributing culture between regular people and independent artists, and that’s something we want to preserve.”

Most of the software that is used today is purchased as a one-site license. This means that only one computer can have that software installed on in at a time. Copying or sharing this information without the use of multiple licences is seen as Software Piracy. There are many ways of preventing software piracy. Software piracy does not only affect one individual but also can affect a large group or company. Some of the effects of software piracy are; it reduces the funding for ongoing development efforts, it can limit the amount of jobs opportunities that are available to people, it also allows for other unauthorised copies of software that may contain bugs or viruses and lastly it prevents the user form getting any high quality technical support and product updates. There are too main factors/ways that can help to prevent software piracy. One way is hiding the users IP address therefor any traces of you being seen on that website are lost and therefor you cannot be hacked. You can also download software which will set up firewalls in order to prevent the user form getting hacked or getting a

Unlicensed software use continued to be a major problem in 2013. Indeed, 43 percent of the software installed on PCs around the world was not properly licensed, an uptick from 42 percent in 2011. The commercial value of the unlicensed installations was $62.7 billion. (The Compliance Gap, 2014). As we can see piracy of software and other digital media is a global problem that adversely affects many businesses and the welfare of employees and consumers.

For many years illegal file sharing and music swapping has been going on. Two very popular cases are the MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster case and the A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster case. Both cases differ in many ways however they also have similarities. A lot of music and other sorts of entertainment are being distributed for free all over the internet. What some people do not think of are the consequences that will be faced if they get caught. Not only is the distributor at risk for getting caught but those of us that download the software illegally can be charged.

First, Online Piracy hurts many people but the most important are the downloaders. People tend to not talk about the fact that not only does it hurt others, it also opens the downloader's computer and sensitive documents to threat. As said in the Info Sheet, "When you participate in peer-to-peer networks private and sensitive documents on your computer

Darrell Panethiere wrote in “The Persistence Of Piracy” on page 2 that “'Piracy refers to the activity of manufacturing unauthorised copies ('pirate copies') of protected material and dealing with such copies by way of distribution and

Computer piracy has been a discussion point for a long time, but many people view piracy differently. I decided to find out how BSA defines piracy. BSA (The Software Alliance) is the leading advocate for the global software industry. BSA defines piracy as, “unauthorized use or distribution of copyrighted software. It includes downloading, sharing, selling, or installing multiple copies of licensed software. Unlicensed software use also includes license infringement – installing a piece of software more times than the license permits – as well as sharing software license codes, uploading software codes to websites so others can download and use it, sharing software license codes or activation keys, as well as user IDs and passwords for web-based software applications.” ("Compliance & Enforcement," n.d.)

Piracy also often introduces infrastructure and security concerns. The sites used for software and media piracy often leave visitors with malware, viruses and spyware, which can compromise private business data and

business software in the United States was obtained illegally, which 30 percent of the piracy

Music piracy should be illegal because downloading music for free is stealing. Music piracy can cause

When people buy music, they get legal rights to that purchase, known as Intellectual Property (IP). But some people do not like to buy music. Whether they know it or not, they use piracy as their way to get music. They use softwares, look music up on the internet, or find somebody selling it. Piracy can be destructive to people or organizations like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). People

This report shows that digital piracy can reduce the growth of digital content. However it’s also encouraged many positives

Perhaps one of the greatest modern issues concerns piracy and the legality of copyright infringement imposed upon acts of piracy. There exists a gray area with the laws that regulate cyber interactions. On one hand, the debate that the act of illegally obtaining copies of work or fiction falls under fair play. Inversely, the other side portrays the argument that piracy damages revenue and intellectual progression of artist, directors, and producers. The latter reigns more true in the case of the American justice system and presents an argument of mutual fairness. Piracy, in all its forms, should be treated as an illegal and punishable activity. Writers and designers must expose themselves to the risk of lost royalties due to piracy.

Music piracy is an infringement that involve the copying or selling of creative works that which the copyright owner, composer, or artist did not consent to. Before the invention of newer technology that allowed for the piracy process to become less difficult, music piracy was much easier to control. With this new and improved technology of the 21st century, users of the web began adding media files to the internet, which made all previous difficulties substantially less challenging. It was much easier for people with little to no knowledge of technology and old piracy methods to gather media files. Piracy may seem petty, but the effects are major. Not only is it illegal, when music is copied and or shared the value decreases with each download.

For electronic and audio-visual media, unauthorized reproduction and distribution is often referred to as piracy (however there is no legal basis for this and indeed in one US copyright lawsuit the judge ordered the plaintiff's legal team to stop using the term). This may occur through organized black market reproduction and distribution channels, sometimes with blatantly open commercial sale (as along the sidewalks of Manhattan's notorious Canal Street), or through purely private