Software Piracy
...just have permission to use it. In purchasing this software you are enforced to abide by its restrictions and rules set forth by its copyright. What is the meaning of copyright and what are the rules set forth? Software is automatically protested by federal copyright law from the moment it was created. The rights granted to the owner of a copyright are stated in the Copyright Act, Title 17 of the US code. The act gives the owner of the copyright “the exclusive right” to reproduce the copyrighted work. It states that anyone who violates any of the rights of the copyright owner is an infringe of the copyright. Those who purchase a license for a copy of software do not have the right to make additional copies without permission. They are allowed only to copy the software on a single computer and make one copy for archival purposes in case something was to happen to the original. The consequences of software policy can include penalties for damages suffered by the copyright owner, up to $100,000 for each work copied. Software policy can be considered a federal crime and the fines can extend to $250,000 and jail terms of up to five years. Software piracy is a serious matter and its consequences are pretty steep. Let’s take a look at why. Everyone benefits from the computer software industry. When people copyrights are broken then the whole computer i...