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From: bsmith@mprvaxa.UUCP (Brian Smith)
Newsgroups: net.followup,net.micro
Subject: Software Piracy
Message-ID: <504@mprvaxa.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 25-Mar-84 23:04:01 EST
Article-I.D.: mprvaxa.504
Posted: Sun Mar 25 23:04:01 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Mar-84 00:45:22 EST
Organization: Microtel Pacific Research, Burnaby BC
Lines: 33

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      I am probably going to catch sh*t for this, but I'm getting tired of
people making statements like "The microcomputer software industry is
losing billions of dollars a year due to software piracy."  These
statements are usually based on the assumption that if N pirate copies of a
program are made, then that means a loss of N sales.  This is simply not
true.  Much of the piracy is by hobbyists with limited budgets.  In many
cases, the hobbyist would not buy the pirated program in the first place.

      So, while I am sure that sales are lost due to piracy, I am equally
sure that the amount is far less than some would have us believe.

      What is my solution to the problem?  Reduce the prices to the level
where the average user is willing to pay to get an original diskette,
instructions, and package.  For games, I figure this to be about ten or
fifteen bucks.  For other types of programs?  Well, Turbo Pascal might be
a good example.

      Protection schemes don't work.  No matter how clever you are in
protecting your software, there is someone equally clever who will figure
out how to copy it.

      Footnote:  A friend of mine wrote and markets a spelling checker for
the TRS-80.  He occasionally gets calls that go something like:  "I've been
using your program and I think it's really great, so I'd like to buy a
copy."

			   Brian Smith (mprvaxa!bsmith)
			      Microtel Pacific Research 

(The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any
real person, living or dead.)