Is software piracy in poor third world countries justified?
Ppl cant afford $50-100 software CD’s in Pakistan and if we stick to Software Piracy laws then common people won’t have access to this software and the country won’t progress.
but piracy after all is piracy n is unlawful.
So is there some realistic solution?
And a question specially for SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS: how would u feel if u were in the US n made some really cool software that u were selling in US for 100 dollars lets say n then u came n saw it was being widely used in Pak n ppl were benefiting from it but it was being sold for Rs 35 pirated?
[request: Guppies please dont use hard core economics n scientific terms in your replies coz some anparh painduz like me won’t know what they mean mehrbani ]
Why do u think Microsoft never really bothered to take an action here in pak apart from verbal No No for piracy?? bcos they know even if they will stop it, no one will buy the softwares. SO if they wont buy, companies aint getting any profit.
but bcos of the pirated softwares ppl learn them, use them & apear in certifications & pay the ammount to those companies, & when they get certified, they teach others & same cycle repeats, & those certified ppl will work in some lil bigger companies which will buy & use licenced softwares, or if these ppl go out they will work on cheaper labour hours.
But i m sure even if these get banned, the licence prices will be much lower then the US for a home user.
JB action ho to raha hay...atleast some token action to send some shockwavez
Police is maaring CHAAPAS at some big places apparently..
i heard last month the manager/CEO of a big IT house in karachi was arrested for selling pirated stuff and then the owner had to call in and secure his release...
The company I work for these days started their operations in '79. People have stolen 'our' software/manuals time and time again. But our systems are so complicated to implement... no one can run them without our support :D . Our installations run for decades (the longest one has been running since our inception ie 23 years!!, 7-15 years is normal) so our income basically depends on support contracts, not one time sales.
Irem, companies like Microsoft hold the line that entities (individuals or companies), that can afford to buy genuine products should buy genuine products.
They are therefore much more focused on targetting governments and medium to large companies in the Third World, than they are on targetting individuals.
The logic is that whilst it is unreasonable to expect an individual to pay thousands of rupees for software, governments and larger companies are able to afford it and should not be taking advantage of the easy availablity of cheap pirated software.
At this point in time, they will be focusing on going after the big fish in countries like Pakistan. They won't expend too much effort yet on the little fish, though they would try and cut off the larger retail pirates.
with the advent of internet the gaming companies at least have secured that hole.. most dish out a half-ass version first and then require users to upgrade to get it all working and that upgrade doesn't work if your .exe has been tampered with.. most won't run with a 'copy cd' in the drive etc..
For educational purposes vendors usually give discounts etc so the only benefactors to piracy are the people who could have bought it but just don't want to pay cuz they don't have to.
As others have pointed out and to my mind, global software vendors like MS and others focus on countries that is their target market for such sales. At least, till some point back, i believe Pakistan, for one reason or the other, did not feature in that target market, for one reason or the other. (may be because of purchasing power or other factors), hence they couldn't be bothered. Since it is outside their sales target market, so it does not technically affect their income statements :~)
May be now, they have started to take notice and are widening their search for chors like us :D
I think the more freely a software is disseminated, the wider its user base becomes overtime. It promotes knowledge, R&D and amplifies its usage. One of the companies recently made an effort to actually have the users register its brands of software within thirty days of purchase in order for them to keep working. However, this very action was received with tremendous antagonism by the developers, and after the first three months of the company’s decision, the stock actually dropped by 20% due to negative forecasts regarding the company’s revenues. Most of the developers held on to the previous versions and are probably waiting to see the actual benefits of making the upgrade. I think the perceptions has been if work can get done for time being with no additional investment, then why reinvent.
Hence, in this case it was a bad decision overall which has adversely affected the development, and progress apart from hurting the company’s bottom line.
Pakistani people are not the only one doing it. Even in America people make copies and distribute among friends (not jus desis). MS and other agencies know it. But as long as MS and relevant companies are in "green" they won't pursue smaller fish.
fraudz, I beg to differ solely on the notion that intellectual property is not the same as material goods. As much as many would like to think it's simply immoral - which it could be depending on one's perception - I tend to think of it as an opportunity to learn, progress and develop, and allowing people to empower themselves. It's also an OK business decision to some extent for companies to not become "extreme" while enforcing policies, which forbid copyright infringements, since it could lead to less saturation of the software
the company has invested considerable investment in creating this product..it needs to make money off of it, not only to continue being in business and paying its employees but also for further development.
Would you like to be in a company which had to lay you off because it could nto control software piracy and thus did not have money to pay your salalries (all other factors being constant)
Good point, and in reality, yes, it's very treacherous ground for major software development firms, just because of what you have pointed out and the reasons I have mentioned.
Now, look at another hypothetical situation where let’s say that I write a piece of some sophisticated application. By piece I mean only one part, for instance a new way of implementing payment gateway for ecommerce sites. I put the entire source code on the Internet for others to study and use without any strings attached. I have done two things:
First of all I have allowed people to look at the solution from a different perspective; the one they can build upon, refine and put it back again on the net, thus others have a chance to learn, and study even more. This is research and development. But, how do I pay my bills, well since I am well known in the community now, and my code samples are on major sites, it may generate interest amongst lots of prospect employers, and solution providers to actually use my services in other commercial projects, perhaps developing an entire e.commerce solution from grounds up.
But, when it comes to major software companies, it’s a different ball game. Their bottom line is driven by wide-array of parameters, and the most important one is of course, how to increase company’s revenues. Personally, I think for the companies it makes more sense to actually create larger communities of developers, and one of the methods is to not prosecute individuals for software piracy. They can just as easily go after firms that need multiple licenses or variations of software. On the long run, most of these developers will become part of the very same firms in one form or another, whether it's direct employment or contracting out. It will create more demand for the software, and the company with branded software will eventually make more money, with a satisfied and large community of developers.
outlaw but having 2 sets of standards for companies using these or developers is a bit iffy.
I do see the advantages with open source, but at the same time i see the revenue issues with it as well. the product may be better..may be.. but at the same time the revenue bleeding may impact future R&D and thus the next set of products.
Piracy and faking is fine, but its prudent if pirated things are kept for domestic use only. Otherwise it brings a hell lot of bad name.
http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2327647
More than 2,000 fake DVDs of the latest Lord of the Rings film have been seized at Heathrow airport. Customs officers found the discs in the luggage of a passenger who arrived from Pakistan on Saturday.
All of you heard of trial versions? right? Pretty new thing? Wrong. Most of the giant companies (I am not saying any names) actually wanted a certain portion of thier products be destributed among Pirateers. Not that they encourage this thing But they do it becuase chances are most of the sofwtare winds up in prospective buyers , namely students and small business owners. Its like try it at home.If u like it and wanna run it in ur company then u gotta buy it!.
I had a friend who had this interview in a software company here. In his resume, he wrote experience with an industry based software. When asked where he used it, he said he practiced with it at home. Now the software costs alonme $6000 per seat license. The Managers smierked and smiled cuz they knew he ran a pirated copy. But none the less he got the job.
Tommy it depends on the company, teh trial versions for some enterprise apps are not freeware either. e.g. the SUV (single user version) for peoplesoft was handed to consultants training for PeopleSoft but the copies had to be acquired by teh company from peopleSoft and there was some minor charge to it. It is still nto freeware and we were not permitted to make copies, it was the same with SAP and Oracle practice/education copies.
mehrbani 