Software Piracy :: Free Essay Writer

computer software PiracySoftware Piracy A Big detestation With Big ConsequencesImaging for a moment that you come across an advertisement saying you can meet up with an individual who will break into a store, disarm all of the alarms and will hold the door open for you as you walk inside and take anything you wish. This criminal offence occurs every day on computer systems around the world including the internet.This is a very serious problem and is very difficult to circumvent. Every computer user is both tempted and immersed in software product program piracy in its many forms. One of the most disturbing facts behind this crime is that many people who participate in the distribution of commercial software dont even know they are committing a crime. Software piracy is a very serious and widespread crime that must be acknowledged and dealt with.Software piracy is the unauthorized duplication and or distribution of copyrighted programs. There are two ways to be come to in sof tware piracy. The start is facilitation. Facilitation is the deliberate copying of copyrighted software and distributing it. An example would be an MIT student named David LaMacchia. This individual served and maintained a computer that was connected to the internet that offered its users more than oneness million dollars worth of software free of charge. Mr. LaMacchia was caught by the authorities and was acquitted of this piracy due to the lack of legal standards for this crime. Another example is off local publicize board systems. Many are run turn out of the offenders homes with just a phone line, a computer and a modem. Here members of this service can practice and receive pirated software (otherwise known as warez) as their own pace and leisure. There are not just one or two of these publicize boards around there are in fact many. Most reside in large cities and the offenders are in most cases minors. As the computer gains a more stable hold on our society thes e bulletin boards are replaced by the ones that are linked to the internet. By this individuals can anonymously put out copyrighted software for the use of any anonymous user of the internet such as the type of system that Mr. LaMacchia ran. The second way to be involved in software piracy is to be on the receiving end.