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Large warez communities were built around earlier computers like the Apple II and the Commodore 64. People found a way to duplicate the software and spread it around for anyone to take for free without the developer’s permission. In the 1980s, it was all about making copies of software with floppy disks and mailing it to anyone that wanted it. Today, however, it’s much easier to obtain pirated software. Thanks to peer-to-peer networks and services like BitTorrent and Usenet, all that someone needs is a personal computer and an internet connection in order to download and use an illegal copy of a piece of
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Back when software piracy erupted, it was quite easy to copy a piece of software that was on a floppy disk. There was no protection in place to thwart software pirates from copying such things. It was as simple as copy-and-pasting a Microsoft Word document on a computer today. However, thanks to Digital Rights Management, it takes a little more effort from a user to “crack” a piece of software. Digital Rights Management is the means of protecting a piece of software from being illegally copied. This is usually done with a unique registration code that the user must enter before they can install the software onto their computer (Baase, 2008). Many software developers and publishers like Microsoft and Adobe use Digital Rights Management on their products.
There has to be a reason as to why software piracy is such a big thing. Why are so many people illegally downloading copied software? Is it to save money? Is it to send a message? According to a study conducted with 56 computer science students who all said that they use pirated software of some kind, the majority said that they simply cannot afford the software that they need or want to use. That answer is not surprising, since some software packages, like Adobe’s Creative Suite, costs up to $1,500. Microsoft’s various operating systems, like Windows 7, can cost as much as …show more content…
(Photographer). (2011). Google plus growth chart. [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from https://plus.google.com/112418301618963883780/posts/B3s3dd739bG
Hermida, A. (2010). From TV to Twitter: How Ambient News Became Ambient Journalism. M/C Journal, 13(2), 7.
Joch, A. (2009). Debating Net Neutrality. Communications of the ACM, 52(10), 14-15.
Konstantakis, N. I., Palaigeorgiou, G. E., Siozos, P. D., & Tsoukalas, I. A. (2010). What do computer science students think about software piracy?. Behaviour & Information Technology, 29(3), 277-285.
Leiner, B. et. al. A brief history of the internet. Retrieved from http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml
Lipsman, A. (2011, June 15). The network effect: Facebook, linkedin, twitter & tumblr reach new heights in may. Retrieved from http://blog.comscore.com/2011/06/facebook_linkedin_twitter_tumblr.html
McCracken, H. (2011, September 22). Google 's real-name policy: Identity vs. anonymity. Time Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2094409,00.html
Nill, A., Schibrowsky, J., & Peltier, J. W. (2010). Factors That Influence Software Piracy: A View from Germany. Communications of the ACM, 53(6),
Back when software piracy erupted, it was quite easy to copy a piece of software that was on a floppy disk. There was no protection in place to thwart software pirates from copying such things. It was as simple as copy-and-pasting a Microsoft Word document on a computer today. However, thanks to Digital Rights Management, it takes a little more effort from a user to “crack” a piece of software. Digital Rights Management is the means of protecting a piece of software from being illegally copied. This is usually done with a unique registration code that the user must enter before they can install the software onto their computer (Baase, 2008). Many software developers and publishers like Microsoft and Adobe use Digital Rights Management on their products.
There has to be a reason as to why software piracy is such a big thing. Why are so many people illegally downloading copied software? Is it to save money? Is it to send a message? According to a study conducted with 56 computer science students who all said that they use pirated software of some kind, the majority said that they simply cannot afford the software that they need or want to use. That answer is not surprising, since some software packages, like Adobe’s Creative Suite, costs up to $1,500. Microsoft’s various operating systems, like Windows 7, can cost as much as …show more content…
(Photographer). (2011). Google plus growth chart. [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from https://plus.google.com/112418301618963883780/posts/B3s3dd739bG
Hermida, A. (2010). From TV to Twitter: How Ambient News Became Ambient Journalism. M/C Journal, 13(2), 7.
Joch, A. (2009). Debating Net Neutrality. Communications of the ACM, 52(10), 14-15.
Konstantakis, N. I., Palaigeorgiou, G. E., Siozos, P. D., & Tsoukalas, I. A. (2010). What do computer science students think about software piracy?. Behaviour & Information Technology, 29(3), 277-285.
Leiner, B. et. al. A brief history of the internet. Retrieved from http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml
Lipsman, A. (2011, June 15). The network effect: Facebook, linkedin, twitter & tumblr reach new heights in may. Retrieved from http://blog.comscore.com/2011/06/facebook_linkedin_twitter_tumblr.html
McCracken, H. (2011, September 22). Google 's real-name policy: Identity vs. anonymity. Time Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2094409,00.html
Nill, A., Schibrowsky, J., & Peltier, J. W. (2010). Factors That Influence Software Piracy: A View from Germany. Communications of the ACM, 53(6),