International Software Laws defines software piracy as “An illegal act of copying, using and distributing software by individuals or organizations”.
Individual and organizational users
Companies or individuals when install particular software must purchase license. When agreeing to certain terms and condition the user is supposed not to violate. Each client (a company or an individual) has to pay against the license. In the case of companies, software license provides networking of the software, hence, each employee logs on to the company network to have an access to the program. In both cases the software key is either given to some friends by individuals or company’s employees. This is unethical act and is called “violation of agreement”. When purchasing a software we should follow suit by not violating the terms and conditions.
Facts
According to Business Software Alliance (BSA) software survey the fact is:
- In 2015 out of all the software installed all around the world 39% were found pirated.
- The commercial value of all the pirated software was decreased from $62.7 billion to $52.2 billion.
- By the region the commercial value of pirated or counterfeit software was calculated as maximum in USA $20.5 billion to the minimum in UAE $ 3.7 billion.
Dangers of using counterfeit software
Using counterfeit software is good for nothing except the cheap rates.
System crash
When pirated software crashes your system the worst possibility could be the data loss and sometimes it can hit the other software as well.
Spyware
Pirated software contain spyware, the intention behind the creation of these spywares is to attack one’s system to steal data. This is the high-tech way of stealing passwords, bank account information and organization’s confidential information.
Deceptive sellers
The deceptive sellers not only deceive the manufacturing company by violating law and stealing intellectual property of the company but they deceive their customer at the same time. These sellers are disguised thieves. When sharing credit card or account information to purchase a software all information is hacked subsequently exploited by seller.
Threat of getting used
There is always possibility of getting caught and having law suit by the company subsequently the culprit is send to jail.
What should we do?
However the subject of pirated software is a hot potato but still we can manage to avoid it if we are careful in our choices.
- Put your best foot forward to purchase software from authorized website.
- In case of online purchase if you doubt contact manufacturers of the software for confirmation and stump up for it if the cap fits.
- Avoid purchasing loose products.
