Types of Software Piracy

In Singapore , most people are ignorant about the many types of piracy. In the survey that we had done, 82.5% of the respondents have no idea what are the different types of piracy. Out of the remaining 17.5% that knew, most of them only know about piracy on consumers' side. According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), there are mainly five types of piracy: end user piracy, client-server overuse, internet piracy, hard-disk loading and software counterfeiting. Many other government agencies and organizations categorize piracy under the same headings as BSA.

End User Piracy | Client-Server Overuse | Internet Piracy | Hard-Disk Loading | Software Counterfeiting

<<End User Piracy>>
End user piracy occurs when a company employee reproduces copies of software without authorization. End user piracy can take the following forms:

Using one licensed copy to install a program on multiple computers in the office
Making copies of original disks for installation and distribution within the office
Taking up upgrade offers without having a legal copy of the software
Using academic or other restricted or non-retail software for commercial purposes without applying for a license
Swapping disks in or outside the workplace

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

<<Client-Server Overuse>>
This type of piracy occurs when too many employees on a network are using a central copy of a program at the same time. In most companies, all the computers are members of a local area network (LAN), which would usually include a few servers. There are many programs, such as Microsoft Exchange Server, installed on the servers that are accessed by the client computers logged on to them. Most of these programs have a limit to the number of client computers that can access it at any one time. Therefore if the number of users exceeds that allowed by the license, it constitutes to client-server overuse.

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

<<Internet Piracy>>
Internet piracy occurs when illegal copies of software are downloaded from the internet. Retail purchasing rules also apply to online purchases. Internet piracy can take the following forms:

Pirate websites that make software available for free download or in exchange for uploaded programs
Internet auction sites and forums that offer counterfeit, out-of-channel, infringing copyright software
Peer-to-peer networks that enable unauthorized transfer of copyrighted programs

The first point on pirate websites is not as common now as international law has caught up with most of them. Many local governments have made an effort to shut down such illegal websites hosted on servers in their countries. But in countries with weak governmental control such as African and Eastern European countries, such websites continue to flourish and bring in money for their owners who charge for program downloads. The second point mainly refers to forums and auction sites such as eBay and Yahoo! Auctions which are now heavily policed by the relevant authorities. Any items that are deemed illegal are quickly de-listed. But for online forums, it is harder to conduct checks as there are too many treads for the moderators to read through. Furthermore, postings of illegal products help to draw more visitors to the websites. Therefore many moderators are willing to turn a blind eye to such cases. The last point on peer-to-peer networks is the most common type of Internet Piracy now. In peer-to peer networks, users download files directly from other users' computer, without needing to go through a server. Popular peer-to-peer network companies are like eDonkey, Kazaa and BitTorrent. Currently there are lawsuits being filed against all of them. But these lawsuits are expected to drag on without any end in sight as it is very hard to prove that they have infringed copyrights due to the fact that they do not host the actual files.

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

<<Hard-Disk Loading>>
Hard-disk loading occurs when a company that sells new computers loads illegal copies of software onto the hard disks to make the computers more attractive to customers. The same concerns and issues apply to Value Added Resellers (VAR) that sell or install new software onto computers in the workplace. Most of the time consumers are not aware that the computer that they bought had been pre-installed with illegal software. This is due to the fact that most consumers don't bother to check the legitimacy of the pre-installed software on newly bought computers. In our survey, only 51.9% of the respondents agreed that it is important to check through the software installed on a new computer. One danger of hard-disk loading is that many of the pre-loaded software include additional binary code that might result in denial-of-service attacks, bypass of password protection and application memory corruption. This poses a security risk to the private owners or the companies that own the computers. Hackers will find it easier to hack into these computers and obtain the confidential data in them.

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

<<Software Counterfeiting>>
This type of piracy is the illegal duplication and sale of copyrighted material with the intent of directly imitating the copyrighted product. In the case of packaged software, it is common to find counterfeit copies of the CDs or diskettes incorporating the software programs, as well as related packaging, manuals, license agreements, labels, registration cards and security features. But most of the CDs are packaged such that they are obviously counterfeit ones. These are sold in illegal shops and stalls all over the island at prices that are less then 10% of the original prices. But there are cases of counterfeit CDs that are packaged to look like real ones and sold at prices that are only slightly lower than retail prices. A recent example is the one concerning a Singaporean who bought counterfeit Windows XP CDs from Hong Kong that looked like the genuine ones, which include all the Microsoft packaging, manuals and even a certificate of authenticity. He then proceeded to sell them online at 90% of the original price, telling buyers that he got them from an overseas supplier. In the end he was caught and charged in court.

Credits: Koh Li Qian Brina, Tan Wei Boon Keith, Chen Jiayang Joseph, Pan Jin Gui Thomas