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Educating Youngsters About Piracy
Colin Winters writes: "The New York Times has an article that is a follow-up to the recent raid by the government on pirates in universities. Some professors believe that "By the time we get them, they already believe it [piracy]'s right." An interesting read. There's also an interesting bit on how business software is now 1/3 pirated, down from 1/2 in 1995. In America, it's only 24%. From the way companies like Microsoft whine about piracy, I'd assumed the figures were increasing, not decreasing."
If 24% of the automobiles on the road in America were stolen from dealers' lots, would anyone feel that the auto industry had no right to "whine"? Why should it be any different with software?
The professor is confussing "legal" with "right." Frankly, I see software piracy, especially of the larger conglomerate companies like Microsoft, as a moral issue more than a legal one.
Yes, it is illegal. But so long as companies like Microsoft abuse their position, lie to consumers, produce broken software, knowingly release bug-ladden insecure crap, and otherwise mistreat the public it is difficult to defend, on moral grounds, striking back at the evil empire.
Now, there's certainly a question to be raised regarding piracy in that it may well do more good than harm to a company's actual bottom line. But the question of if it is "right" should not be confused with the question of if it is legal.
Much that is legal is not morally defensible. And much that is morally defensible is not legal.
Certainly there are those, perhaps even the majority, who pirate for entirely selfish reasons. But there are those who pirate because they see it as striking at a morally bankrupt corporations heart.