Internet Crime: The Simple Truth

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Worldwide Piracy

In 2001, the Business Software Alliance commissioned a study on worldwide business software piracy. The study showed that in 2000:

• The world piracy rate increased to 37%
• $11.75 billion was lost due to piracy.
• By region, Eastern Europe had the highest piracy rate at 63%, and has had the highest piracy rate in every study since 1994.
• North America's piracy rate decreased to 25% from 31% in 1994.
• Vietnam has a piracy rate of 97%—the highest rate of all countries in the study.

(The above information was taken from: http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/ww/.)

The Internet was created to be a vehicle for information sharing. Many technological advances have occurred because of the ability to expand on existing technology. For example, Sun Microsystems has a large collection of Java code in its Java Class Libraries (available at: http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/docs/api/) which are open-source (freely available to anyone). Programmers can use and expand upon this code in the creation of new software and new Java Classes. However, not everyone wishes to give away the results of their hard work. If you want to use the software, drawings, or other intellectual property someone else has taken the time and made the effort to create, they feel that you should have to pay for it. This doesn't seem unreasonable.

What is intellectual property? According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (http://www.wipo.org/about-ip/en/), "Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs." As you can see, intellectual property covers a lot of territory. Unfortunately, the nature of the Internet lends itself well to piracy. Every page you visit is stored on your computer for some amount of time. And, we are forever being asked to download something: software itself, upgrades, patches, files, graphics, sounds, and scripts. It becomes habit forming, and we begin to believe that we have a right to acquire anything we find on the Internet. But, this is simply not the case. I think we need to remind ourselves of this regularly.

In the long run, piracy negatively impacts all of us. The prices of goods and services increase in order to compensate for piracy. Piracy also impedes technological advancement. Why should I make something if someone can come along and steal it? If I do create something, I have to spend my time and resources figuring out a way to protect it. This is not unique to the Internet. Yet, because of the nature of the Internet, protecting property becomes more difficult and time consuming. This issue will resurface in the Privacy and Security sections of this site. For now, suffice it to say that piracy is an issue requiring global cooperation, and that it is in our own best interest to see that piracy rates decrease.

About Adobe: Anti-Piracy

Anti-Piracy (SIIA)

BSA United States - Anti Piracy

Microsoft Software Piracy: Protecting Intellectual Property

Warez.com - We are the underground!

World Intellectual Property Organization

WTO | intellectual property - overview of TRIPS Agreement

Copyright @ 2002 by Robert J. Trader, University of Kentucky Graduate Student.
All rights reserved.

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