Software Infringement Effect on Software Producers and Economic Hardships Facing Software Creators Research Paper

Technology is changing fast.It is also changing broadcast media and communication. For instance, information technology has caused the redundant the use of fax redundant and reduced the use of telephone and television. Technology has created new opportunities which have also come with different challenges the greatest challenge being software infringement (legal services India 2010 para. 5).Software infringement is also called software piracy. Software programs are protected by copyright law it states that a developer has rights to the object code, source code, applications and also operating system programs. The internet and web has made it easy for people to infringe on copy right. The digital technology has enabled modification and reproduction which is out of the control of the software developer.

There are also incidences that can be confused with software infringement. There is free software that can easily confuse to mean that no price is paid to get the software however this is not always the case. However one has unrestricted right to study, modify, distribute and improve the software. There is also a coded one uses to access use of the software in human-readable form.

There are instances that allow users to copy the original of a software creator called fair use. This law allows one to reproduce copy righted material in limited circumstances. First when making a back up copy of software in case the original gets destroyed. Secondly when the user alters a program to enable it to function on a certain machine. Lastly is the reproduction of a program in order to study the ideas of the software (Chiang and Assane, pp. 157-158).

Forms of software infringement

Soft lifting, here a person buys a single licensed copy of software; this single copy is installed in friends and workmates computers. Counterfeiting where one makes duplicates from the licensed copy then sells them as “legitimate copies” usually the seller makes trademarks or logo that look similar to the ones of the copyright holder or company.

Unrestricted client is also another form of infringement where an organization uploads software to its server or network allowing users of their network or website access to the software which violates license agreement terms. Internet piracy happens when one uploads commercial software on the internet for use of anyone who would want to down load to make copies. Hard disk loading is done by some business people who install illegally obtained software in hard disks of their customers this is hard disk loading. This is usually done to attract customers.

Commercially using software that is non-commercial: Companies may allow the use of software for educational use such as in College. But after finishing school this software should not be used for personal gain. OEM (original equipment manufacturer) piracy involves use of software made for a specific hardware on other hardware. This violates the contract of distribution.

Peer to peer sharing, this happens when you connect individual computers without a centre of information management. This means that one user can access the information of another computer that it is connected to. The users can access each others software, listen to music, watch movies and down load files they need. Other than this being a form of infringement it cause internet traffic, Europe, Australia and Middle East report 49-89 percent traffic caused by this sharing also called P2P.

Some excuses pirates use for infringement

It is expensive to obtain genuine software from the rightful developer. It is easy to pirate especially with digital technology. They are testing the software, lack of software in the market because some countries do not have an effective distribution network. Another excuse is loss of legally obtained software hence reluctance to buy a new one.

Causes of software piracy

To understand effects of software infringement on developers it is important to understand the causes so as to be able to come up with solutions. The first reason is huge economic gap between developed and developing countries, most piracy occurs in developing countries such as China and Mexico compare to the United Kingdom. Pirated copies are functioning as well as originals. They are reliable with no inconveniences. There is lax enforcement hence the pirate knows they will not be caught. There is a desire to have what is latest in the market even when one cannot afford a product. There is also widespread ignorance on matters related to software infringement.

Harmful effects of software infringement on creators

Software infringement is a form of theft.It causes companies to make less money hence resulting to less money allocated to development of improved software and research. Money intended to make innovations is diverted to protection of software against infringement and other security measures. Infringement is costing United States loss in billions of dollars in different and indirect forms for instance job losses for those working in software developing companies. Other means include loss of government tax and retailer dollar losses.

Infringement denies the developer of the software the sales he has earned. Developing software tries work so it is unjustified, a software pirate who takes a few minutes to copy the software and rips where he has not sown. The developers are also forced to increase the prices of their products to compensate for the extra cost which is unfortunately passed on to users.

Infringement decreases the morale of the developer hence he may not enhance his developments this means that technology will stagnate rather than improve in the coming years. It is unethical and when infringing software, you deny yourself some services for instance you might get malfunctioning software, software incompatible with your hardware and you might infect your computer with viruses.

Infringement causes a reduction in number of software developers. This is because who would want to go into a career that they will not benefit from? The person would rather try another career option. Copyright infringement leads to closure of small companies that have found a niche in the industry. larger companies like Microsoft can stay put despite piracy, but smaller companies lack resources that they can use to fight the wide spread software infringement.

The people employed indirectly by software developers are losing their jobs. Friedman states that piracy will cost businesses in EU more than 240 billion euros by 2015, 1.2 million jobs will also be lost (para. 2).with so many people losing their job they will not be able to purchase software. This means that software infringement has a ripple effect.

Challenges of fighting software infringement

The challenges of fighting software infringement are many first is the breaking of safedisc technology by pirates. Earlier companies protected their product by use of a serial number. The computer reads the number and decrypts it to executable from an ICD file then runs it. This process is being circumvented by software infringers who disable and extract the executable code in the ICD file directly. There are also special programs that promote piracy like CloneCD and BlindWrite.

It is difficult to detect unauthorized use of software because duplication of computer data is easy. Earlier there was use of code that prevented programs from being installed from a set of disks more than once. The users rejected this software (Research machines para. 15).

Many countries do not enforce their software laws; there are also differences in legislation. Some countries do not have developed judicial systems hence they cannot deal with intellectual property rights act. Some countries laws are not up to date with technology hence creates some loopholes in the application of copyright laws. Some countries do not consider infringement a criminal act, Russia allows it as long as the software you are pirating is not in Russian language or from other countries.

Some companies are not aware that they are infringing on software rights an example is when a company moves to a different state like in the case of Alcan Rolled Products. It had a license in stating that it has to seek written approval of Cincom before it transfers its rights to another company. When it had internal restructuring it used its licensed software in Oswego New York. Cincom argued that there was no prior permission hence the court ruled that there was an act of infringement.

According to Wash pirates are producing high quality counterfeits. The counterfeit looks like the original.they have fine details like logo and trademark look exact. Hence companies who would like to buy genuine software are also easily deceived (para. 6).

Anti piracy protection is very expensive. For instance the use of dongles is not used by smaller companies because it adds manufacturing expense hence expensive. Dongles prevent sharing of software that is uploaded through the internet; the buyer has to receive the software physically like shipment. This brings in another challenge of driving away some customers since they will not be able to share this software. Some software producers do not view infringement as evil. This view has been increased by use of alternative free software of high quality.

The cost of obtaining patents is too long and it is difficult to get clearance. First you have to hire a patent attorney. The attorney then conducts a clearance research and clearance opinion. This is time wasting and costly for individual inventor and small budgets.

There is use of networks that share knowledge. Users misuse these networks to infringe software then modify their name and materials being shared, it is difficult to later trace them. Some software infringement preventive measures are not user friendly. For instance the windows XP that need frequent reactivation of codes. It has barred infringers at the same time inconveniencing legitimate users.

One of the areas that infringement is at its highest is institutions of higher learning such as college and universities. This is because students are not economically well off and also a misconception that educational institutions are not participating in software infringement. This has been enhanced by the fact that not many institutions have been sued for software infringement.

Advantages of software infringement

Though there is controversy surrounding the infringement of software ironically there are some benefits. There is free software that developers have come up with which one can down load and use in their computers. With this software one can modify copy and redistribute the software without the owner’s permission. There are certain instances where a developer allows unlimited access to use of their software. A developer can avail free software in order to test it on users in order to make improvements for his next innovation.

Software piracy has helped to control price of obtaining software. This is because the companies have to lower the price in order to compete with the pirated copies. This prevents the consumers from exploitation. Knowledgerush give examples where prices have been lowered Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness game was sold in 2003 at the cost of 30 pounds rather than 40 pounds because it was piratable. The unpiratable game version cost 40 pounds.

Infringement brings an emphasis to improvement of software and invention of convenient features. This has been reason for Japanese success who emphasise on quality of already existing products as observed by American and Japan’s industry analysts (The League for Programming Freedom para. 30).Techniques in developing software remain useful for decades ,hence the developers developing 30 years from now will use today’s software as a base (Irlam and Rubin, para.26).

It increases innovation because developers come up with innovations when they try to solve problems of software already developed. Innovations do not come from developers who are trying to make inventions (The League for Programming Freedom).

Software can be accessed so that users test the product and buy it if it satisfies their needs.For instance one can be given 30 days to test a software ,when the user find it satisfactory he can buy it in order to access unlimited use.

This infringement allows for developing countries to access technology that they would not have been available for their use. It is better that they access this technology than not to access it at all. Some scholars argued that in developing technology is imitative in nature unlike in developed countries which is suited to coming up with new innovations. This means strict copyright acts may choke knowledge slipovers in developing countries. The president of Romania announced that piracy has helped set off the IT industry in his country and made the young generation to discover computers. Bill Gates has praised piracy for promoting and marketing his company’s products in the market. He gives an example of china. Microsoft will compete easily with Linux when the Chinese decide to buy legitimate software.

It benefits the software industry because it allows new entrants into the market and removes the obstacle of monopolistic tendencies of large organizations. Based on what is available in the market small and medium size organizations can spring up. Large companies still make their profits irrespective of piracy of software.

Ways of fighting use of infringed software

The use and implementation of copyright law which protects software developers’.The act gives the developer permission to exercise rights as the exclusive owner of their material. The macromedia asks users to report piracy cases in a piracy reporting form, all reports are anonymous (Adobe systems Inc. para. 3 ).One of the methods prescribed by Cornel University is use of honest staff and student, network administrators, software audits and use of piracy watchdog groups (Cornel University para. 16).

Parties who distribute software should be charged with illegal distribution of pirated software. It is easier to catch a single distributor who handles bulk of the software at a central point compared to individuals who are scattered. The fines should also correspond to amount made through piracy. One famous case is the Lakeland man who was sentenced for 6 years. He admitted to making over 4.2 million dollars in sale of pirated copies of Adobe, Autodesk and Macromedia software. His assets were sold to compensate his victims.

Conducting major public awareness initiatives.An example is one conducted by Microsoft called Genuine Software Initiative (GSI).the campaign was aimed at educating the public on how to spot counterfeit software and help them understand the harmful effects of piracy to the entire society (Microsoft para. 9).Intellectual property education should be introduced in the school curriculum it should start at the elementary level right through high school. This will sensitize students to appreciate software developers works and creativity.

Using software that requires online activation will help reduce infringement. This has been used by Microsoft, after installing windows XP you are required to activate it online to check if it is genuine. The users system is checked using the key the user installed it activates the copy of windows XP. The downside about this technology is when slight changes are made to the hard ware you need to reactivate the codes. This has irritated legitimate users.

One of the ways of preventing software infringement administrators should read software agreements, keep good records and educate themselves on infringement. Companies should also submit their software registration card, they should also keep a cite license and check that the software they are using is legal.

How users can protect themselves from soft ware infringement

Check the software for Certificate of authenticity if absent then the software is not genuine. Get software from credible sources such as original publishers, online source which offer security features and brand name sources. Also check if the software titles are from different publishers per disk. Counterfeit sellers usually sell their product way below the market price so if the deal is too good think twice. Read widely on risks that you put yourself when using counterfeits.

Check if the online retailer is credible by checking for a “trust mark”. Research about the website to find out if is legitimate. While on the same website check for feedback of users about the product you want to buy. Genuine sellers will always have this section because they want to serve their customers better. Legitimate software also comes with manuals, warranties and service policies. Another method of detecting pirated software is when the seller offers you back up copies; he probably knows that what he has sold is not long lasting hence the need for a second copy.

Conclusion

The challenge posed by infringement has created a need for more research and work of internet security. More institutions need to start curriculum that concentrate on these. Since the world has become a village there is need for international laws that protect developers since it is possible for people in different continents to infringe on the rights of another person in a different continent.

References

Adobe systems Inc. “The macromedia anti-piracy program.” 2010. Web.

Chiang, Eric and Assane, Djeto. “Software copyright infringement among college students.” 2002. Web.

Cornell University. “Copyright Infringement of Software What You Should Know.” 2010. Web.

Friedman, Jacob. “Software Piracy to Cost Sailors Their Jobs?” 2010. Web.

Irlam, Gordon and Rubin, Paul. “Software patents: an economic perspective.” 1994. Web.

Knowledgerush. “Copyright infringement.” (n.d.) 2010. Web.

“Lakeland man sentenced to 6 years for copyright infringement.” Business journal 2006. Web.

Legal services India. “Copyright Infringement in Cyberspace & Network Security: A Threat to E-Commerce.” 2010. Web.

Microsoft. “Genuine Microsoft Software.” 2010. Web.

The League for Programming Freedom. “Against Software Patents.” 1991. Web.

Research machines plc. “Software piracy.” 2009. Web.

Wash, Redmond. “Counterfeit Software Can Cost Businesses in Many Ways.” 2009. Web.