Software Piracy

In 1993 worldwide illegal copying of domestic and  international software cost $12.5 billion to the software industry,  with a loss of $2.2 billion in the United States alone. Estimates show  that over 40 percent of U.S. software company revenues are generated  overseas, yet nearly 85 percent of the software industry's piracy  losses occurred outside of the United States borders. The Software  Publishers Association indicated that approximately 35 percent of the  business software in the United States was obtained illegally, which  30 percent of the piracy occurs in corporate settings. In a corporate  setting or business, every computer must have its own set of original  software and the appropriate number of manuals. It is illegal for a  corporation or business to purchase a single set of original software  and then load that software onto more than one computer, or lend, copy  or distribute software for any reason without the prior written  consent of the software manufacturer. Many software managers are  concerned with the legal compliance, along with asset management and  costs at their organizations. Many firms involve their legal  departments and human resources in regards to software distribution  and licensing.           Information can qualify to be property in two ways; patent law  and copyright laws which are creations of federal statutes, pursuant  to Constitutional grant of legislative authority. In order for the  government to prosecute the unauthorized copying of computerized  information as theft, it must first rely on other theories of  information-as-property. Trade secret laws are created ...
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