Software Piracy is unauthorized copying of software. Most retail programs are licensed for use at just one computer site or for use by only one user at any time. By buying the software, you become a licensed user rather than an owner. You are allowed to make copies of the program for back up purposes, but it is against the law to give copies to friends and colleagues.
Two organizations that work to prevent software piracy are:
FAST
FAST The Federation against Software Theft was set up in 1984 by the British Computer Society's
Copyright Committee, and was the first software copyright organization in the U.K. Its first action was to raise the awareness of software piracy and to lobby the U.K. Parliament for changes in the Copyright Act of 1956 to reflect the needs of software authors and publishers. This campaign was successful, and FAST has since been able to influence other legislation that impacts the proper safeguarding of software. The work of FAST in this area has directly influenced the way software copyright law and investigations are carried out in many other countries. To learn more, visit www.fastiis.org.
BSA
BSA Math Works is a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a global organization formed to advance free and open world transfer for legitimate software by advocating strong intellectual property protection. The BSA represents leading software and e-commerce developers in 65 countries. For more information about the BSA or to report software piracy, visit the BSA Web site at www.bsa.org.
There are several different methods of reporting piracy. These methods include contacting watch groups, e-mailing the publisher of the pirated software, calling piracy hotlines, and
