Digital Piracy
Witten by Pat Reed, Vice Principal/Curriculum, St. John Fisher School
Introduction
Digital piracy is the illegal copying and use of copyrighted digital media, including software, movies and music. Software piracy has been around the longest, and refers to activities that violate the intended license. Generally this means copying software onto multiple machines when you have a license for an individual machine, or burning CD-Roms for use on multiple machines. In recent years, the development of CD and DVD burners and music-sharing communities has propagated music and movie piracy.
Software piracy may be tempting in a school environment where students are abundant and funding resources are scarce. However, this practice is both unethical and illegal. When piracy occurs, students are served with a dose of modeling of inappropriate behavior, as well as, lack of education on the proper use of software. Software ethics should be taught and reiterated to students at every applicable opportunity.
Identical copies of music and movies are often pirated through the commercialized black market organizations and through individual download as part of sharing communities. Duplicates are made from hard copies of CDs and DVDs, and through Internet download. Piracy has hurt the software, recording and entertainment industries by taking away from company profits and restricting incentive to future innovation. Teens represent a large proportion of these movie and music pirates. Proper education on the injustices that have affected the entertainment industry and the legal risks which abound must be presented to students.
Issues in Software Piracy
In educational institutions, many who pirate software are fully aware of the legalities, though they are able to rationalize continuing the practice. Some don’t make the distinction between freeware, shareware and commercial software. Others believe students won't be able to take advantage of the many technology-based educational opportunities without access to unaffordable software. Since software budgeting is often inadequate, and occasional upgrade of hardware makes older versions of software obsolete after several years, some think the only "solution" to the problem is to pirate newer versions of past purchased software. Finally, some people don't believe that software piracy is truly stealing because there is no loss of a tangible product involved in the act of piracy.
Both the US government and software companies are actively involved in efforts to eliminate piracy. Computer software is considered intellectual property, and is specifically protected under the Computer Software Copyright Act of 1980. Users are allowed to make one back-up copy of a piece of software for archival purposes only. Software piracy can be prosecuted in both civil and criminal courts. Copyright law puts software pirates at risk for damages which include fines up to $250,000 and jail terms up to five years.
Minimizing Software Piracy
As teachers, the easiest way to minimize piracy is to set a good example. Don't use pirated software or distribute commercial software to students or colleagues. It is important that policies go beyond individual classrooms, and that schools / districts develop software management, acquisition and implementation policies. These policies should be made clear to each teacher in the school’s Acceptable Use Policy with explicit statements regarding the unacceptability of software piracy. Technology Coordinators should determine which commonly used software packages are compatible with anticipated hardware and network upgrades, and make faculty aware of those changes prior to upgrade. Other ways to reduce the likelihood of software piracy are explicitly stated in Safeguarding Your Technology: Practical Guidelines for Electronic Education Information Security.
With an issue as prevalent and as serious as this one, protecting yourself and your school should be paramount along with educating students on the proper software licensing procedures. By being vigilant, asking questions and maintaining an honest outlook, software piracy can be a non-issue. Here are some helpful hints for you to consider BEFORE INSTALLING ANY SOFTWARE.
- Check with your building or district purchasing agent about the way the licensing works on certain programs. There are some kinds of educational software that do allow you to reproduce or use it at home, so check it out.
- When in doubt, call the manufacturer. Gather any information you can about the program (purchase order, serial number, year of purchase) and call for rudimentary explanations about how you can use the license.
If you have the license, look for key words such as those below in the FAQ section below.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is "softlifting"?
Softlifting is the illegal practice of taking one purchased piece of software and loading on to multiple machines or a home computer in addition to a work machine even when the license does not allow it.
Am I allowed to make a backup copy?
Typically a backup copy can be made for "archival purposes only" which means that you make that copy in case something happens to your original that is irreparable. It is NOT for loading software on additional machines. Most of the time, one license for one computer is a good rule of thumb, unless stated otherwise by the license.
What are the main types of software?
Public Domain software has absolutely no licensing attached to it. A user can copy, download, remove an author's name and distribute public domain software with no repercussions.
Freeware software is free to the user to download as long as the instructions for reproduction are followed. Often times users are encouraged to distribute the software to others.
Shareware software is free (usually with your registration) for a period of time. The distributor may setup the software to be rendered unusable after that time-period, with the trusting hope that crackers will not find a way around it. Most often, users have the option to purchase a license for the software after the free time period.
Commercial (proprietary) software is distributed by a distributor for a fee with the goal of making a profit. Commercial software is less likely to allow reproduction. Most software used at companies and schools is commercial.
Types of commercial licenses often purchased by schools:
- A single-user license can be used on one computer only (sometimes called a limited license).
- An unlimited site license allows you to load the software on any computer at that given site (school).
- A network license allows you to place a copy of a piece of software on the server to be distributed to a set number of computers connected to that network server...sometimes an unlimited number.
What questions should I ask before purchasing software licenses?
- Are upgrades included? How often?
- If upgrades are not included, how much do they cost?
- What type of license is it?
- What is the duration of the license?
- Does the software work on the operating systems in use at my school?
- What type of tech. support does the company offer?
- Can teachers and/or students use this software at home?
Issues in Music Piracy
From the birth of the CD-burner, which now comes standard on most PCs, to the development of mp3 music formats, to the music download sites such as Napster, to music sharing communities like LimeWire, Morpheus and Kazaa, music piracy has hit a level which puts the recording industry at severe risk. Losses to the recording industry are in the billions of dollars.
Compact disc technology became available to consumers in 1983. This led to the birth of the CD-Rom in 1985, the CD-R (recordable), and the CD-RW (recordable and writable) in the early 1990s. With the birth of Sony’s MP3 technology and the advent of Napster in the late 1990s and its later spinoffs, music piracy increased exponentially. By 2004, sales of CD-Audio, CD-ROM, and CD-R were estimated at 30 billion discs annually. An estimated 40 million Americans are involved in the illegal trade of music over the Internet.
In 2000, Napster, the first MP3 file sharing community, made a significant impact on the Internet music scene, providing Internet music lovers with the opportunity to download free versions of songs and burn them onto CDs. Users could get copies of songs without paying any royalties to the artist. By February of 2001, there were 13.6 million Napster users. Legal actions were taken not only by companies, but by individual performers as well. While technically considered a music sharing community, lists of files were hosted on central servers, making the shutdown of Napster relatively easy. In July of 2001, Napster’s servers were ordered shut down for violation of copyright laws.
No time was wasted while others jumped on the piracy wagon. Napster spinoffs included Kazaa, Imesh and Morpheus, and users could download not only music, but software and pictures as well. There was fury in the music industry among recording companies and musicians. Kazaa and others utilized true decentralized peer-to-peer music sharing (unlike Napster which listed on its servers) making it much more difficult to thwart. An estimated 3.5 millions individuals are connected to the Kazaa network at any one time.
Issues in Movie Piracy
While movie piracy is not quite as widespread as music piracy, pirated movies are definitely on the uprise. Pirated DVDs are hawked by black market vendors are the streets of many major U.S. cities. Major motion pictures are available for download off the Internet. Movie production companies are seeing their revenues fall.
A major milestone for the performing and recording industries occurred in June, 2005 when new legislation was passed that software companies can be held liable for their violation of copyright laws when their software is used to illegally download songs and music. (MGM v. Grokster).
The Future
It seems clear that shutting down Napster did nothing to widespread digital piracy. However, certain organizations have procedures in place to combat digital piracy. The Recording Industry Association America (RIAA) pursues individuals, college students in particular, to make an example of some of the estimated 61 million peer-to-peer users. Novell has created an Internet Piracy Unit (IPU) that scours the Internet 24 hours a day searching for the larger music pirates and traders of unlicensed software, and pressing charges.
Attempts are being made to develop CDs with copy protection. These CDs only play in CD players, and not in CD-ROMs. This creates a consumer problem, because autos are actually equipped with CD-ROM drives. They also won’t play in DVD drives, which means the consumer must have both a DVD player and a CD player. There is also proposed legislation that puts the burden on computer manufacturers to prevent unauthorized copying. A digital watermarking system is also under consideration.
Peer-to-peer networking communities are blossoming, and new users are cultivated daily. Meanwhile the recording industry struggles to develop technologies that will protect their copyrights. The dispute between the recording industry and everyday music pirates is likely to continue for a long time.
Useful Websites
Peer-to-Peer: History and Future
This is a wonderful resource that describes the early years of music piracy, and some predictions for what the future holds.
A Digital Agenda for Music
This site presents both sides of the music piracy issue, and includes the impact on the recording industry and issues for general users.
Education for the Information Age: Compact Disks
History of the CD.
Digital Entertainment Post-Napster: Music
A good analysis of music piracy and protection and projections for the music industry.
The History of Illegal Downloading of Copyrighted Music
A timeline of events including legal actions from 1999-2003.
http://www.cheatingculture.com/moviepiracy.htm
Annotated Web Sites
Software Piracy
Well written, concise presentation of issues surrounding software piracy.
Microsoft Anti-Piracy
Contains information on piracy, how it affects you, and how to protect yourself, your business and your ideas
Schools and Software
Take a real look at a school confronted with software piracy and the disappointment it caused. Followed by a discussion of why schools should be able to afford software given special discounts. This argument is refuted and discussed.
Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. Section 106)
An explanation of copyright law and fair use as it relates to licensing.
Hollywood Wins Internet Piracy Battle
A 2005 article from CNN Money on the most recent legal proceedings.
Don’t Shoot The Messenger: Copyright Infringement in the Digital Age
Summary and results of recent legal battles over piracy.
Last Updated:
08/02/2005
|