Step Aside Captain Hook,
Here Comes the Modern Pirate
Mention
the word “pirate” and you’ll immediately
conjure images of mean-looking men who used to plunder and
loot ships long ago. The modern day pirate is based on land.
Remember Captain Hook in “Peter Pan”? Well,
the modern pirate is not one-eyed. Neither does he have
a hook for a hand. He exists in homes, schools and offices.
He makes copies of original software programmes. Yes, this
is what the modern pirate does!
Software is what that makes computers and the Internet work. Software is one of the most valuable technologies of the Information Age.
Unfortunately, computers can easily create an exact copy of a programme within seconds. This is software piracy. Well, of course, pirated versions are a lot cheaper than the original ones and this is the main reason people are attracted to them.
By buying pirated software, companies involved in software development are drastically affected, financial-wise. They end up with less money for research and, therefore, have to cut back on software development and advancement. Who becomes the loser at the end? It’s we, the users. We get stuck using the same old software.
This is why software piracy is illegal. Even the copy that you make on your PC for your friend is illegal. The software that you use on your PC is intellectual property (IP). Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.
You use intellectual property all the time, whether you know it or not. Pick up any book, and although you hold it in your hands, the content actually belongs to the author who wrote it, or the publishing company which printed it. This applies to music, art of any kind, as well as software. In fact, anything that can have a patent or a copyright is intellectual property. IP is protected by copyright law.
