Beware! That pirated software CD which you bought for a couple of hundred bucks may have saved you some money…but in the long run, it can do a lot more harm to you than good. Do you know that by buying such pirated software, you maybe aiding and abetting crime?
What is software piracy?
Theft of software through the illegal copying of genuine programs or the counterfeiting and distribution of products intended to pass for the original is termed as termed as software piracy.
Examples of software piracy
- End user copying - Friends loaning disks to each other, or organizations underreporting the number of software installations they have made.
- Hard disk loading – Hard disk vendors loads pirated software
- Counterfeiting - large-scale duplication and distribution of illegally copied software.
- Illegal downloads from the Internet - By intrusion, cracking serial numbers etc.
A consumer of pirated software has a lot to lose…
- He gets untested software that may have been copied thousands of times over, potentially containing hard-drive-infecting viruses
- No technical support in case of software failure
- No warranty protection
- No legal right to use the product
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