The decision for choosing my topic for the week was to become more aware of the impact of software piracy. I have read articles over the years that gave highlights of the effects of piracy, specifically software, and a fresh look of resent findings will be interesting given the great leaps forward in technology. There are differences in the findings and estimates of how much software piracy is costing the companies and developers. In reading IT World Canada (2013), I find International Data Corp., an analyst firm, that their research was very thorough in reporting a finding of 114 billion dollar loss annually to enterprises. The research was done for Microsoft and appears to paint a good picture of the prolific effect of software piracy. …show more content…
The software piracy picture is actually much larger than this and it becomes a heart-felt and saddening topic when reading deeper into the issue. First, look at a large company that produces software. Every time a product is pirated, not paid for or paid to the actual owner, the company has to first redirect their monetary funds from innovation to now trying to determine how to protect their goods. Future development is affected and that results in a freeze for hiring new employees. As the piracy grows, the company’s loss of sells forces the layoff of employees. The snowball effect begins to spread into the homes and quickly into the economy. Secondly, look at the single …show more content…
Yes, one can obtain the goods free or for a fraction of the cost when compared to the original, but the use of these items can ruin electronic devices such as when viruses are installed on a personal computer. What initially came as a way of saving money has now cost more than the initial software after factoring in the time and money lost fixing the computer. Whether it is a software program suite or the source code of a tool, you are not going to achieve the same results, updates, patches, or support as the original when using the pirated version. After seeing all of the faults that pirated technology can have and the effect on society, it should be an easy choice as what to choose if ever faced with the