Computer
Software Licensing And Piracy
Author: Kelly Sommerfeld
Email: k_sommerfeld@yahoo.com
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 by state law,
and most jurisdictions...
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