Softare pircay is the unauthorized duplication, distribution or use of computer software. This occurs when
more copies of software are made than the license allows,or software licensed for the installation on
one computer is made onto multiple computers or a server.
Copying software is an act of copyright infringement, and has significant civil and criminal penalties.
This means that it is illegal to use pirated software yourself, give it away, or sell it.
In addition aiding piracy by providing unauthorized access to software or to serial numbers used
to register software can also be illegal.
Current illegal software in the US accounts for 25 - 50% of the software in use. Other countries often
have levels of piracy well beyond that of the US. For example, Carol Bartz, the president and chairman of
Autodesk, Inc. reports that one of their products, AutoCAD, has 90% of the computer-aided design
(CAD) market in China, yet sales are virtually negligible due to the widespread acceptance of software piracy.
Autodesk
Typess of Software Piracy
- End-User piracy
- When users copy software without appropriate licensing for each copy
- Pre-installed Software
- When a computer manufacturer takes one copy of software and illegally installs it on more than one computer
- Internet Piracy
- When unauthorized copies are downloaded over the Internet
- Counterfeiting
- When illegal copies of software are made and distributed in packaging that reproduces the manufacturer's packaging
- Online Auction Piracy
- Software resold in violation of the original terms of sale
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Reference
Microsoft Corporation. How Priacy Affects You
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/how_types.mspx March 2007
CPSR. Computer Systems
http://www.cpsr.org/prevsite/cpsr/privacy/crime/denning.hackers.html March 2007