Software Licensing and Piracy - you can serve time for it!
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 have laws that
criminalize the violations of a trade-secret holder's rights in
the secret. The definition of a trade secret varies somewhat
from state to state, but commonly have the same elements. In
1964 the United States Copyright Office began to register
software as a form of literary expression.
The United States Code was passed covering software piracy was
passed by Congress in 1992. This amendment, known as Public Law
102-561 made software piracy a federal offense, and instituted
criminal penalties for copyright infringement of software. The
penalties can include imprisonment of up to five years, fines up
to $250,000 or both for unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of 10 or more copies of software with a total
retail value exceeding $2,500 or more. Under United States law
duplicating software for profit, making multiple copies for use
by different users within an organization, and giving an
unauthorized copy to someone else is prohibited. Under this law
if anyone is caught with the pirated software, an individual or
the individual's company can be tried under both civil and
criminal law. A Civil action may be established for injunction,
actual damages (which includes the infringer's profits) or
statutory damages up to $100,000 per infringement.
The resultant laws show now why software licensing is not as
clear cut as it once was.
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