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Software Copyright Infringement Info.

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A Few Words About Piracy

By Andrew Fish

Many people think that copying software is a perfectly legitimate practice - this is not true. Shareware, like full-priced software, is not FREEware and, although shareware developers are only individuals or small companies they still have the legal right to expect people to pay for using their software.  People don't have a right to possess software any more than they have a right to own a car - many people who wouldn't even consider stealing a car will quite happily copy software.

A large company covers the cost of piracy by a number of methods - they charge for upgrades, charge higher prices in general or only sell packages as part of suites. All of these methods cost the average software user and lead people to feel that the price of software justifies piracy. 

Some people try to justify piracy to themselves in other ways - perhaps they say that they only need to use the program for one job or they say that one sale won't make a difference. Psychologists have a word for this : Denial. If you reason it through, these arguments simply don't hold water: if you didn't own a lawnmower and needed to hire one for a day, would you steal it instead? If you did so, would you then only use it for the one job or would you find that, actually it's quite handy from time to time? If you assume that one sale won't make a difference, how many other people are thinking the same way? How many people does it take to make a difference. Read more: A Few Words About Piracy

 

 
     

 

 
 

SharewareJustice News

2007

  • We have received over 100 settlements for our clients for the first half of 2007.  This is our best year yet.

  • We reached a large settlement for our own software with a Japanese company who pirated our software for over 2 years. 

  • Our attorneys have received a settlement check from a Chinese company that infringed one of our clients' software.  The Chinese company had branches within the US and is listed on one of the popular US stock markets. 

2006

  • An Austrian software company has admitted to copyright infringement of one of our clients' software.  They hired one of Los Angles' largest law firms.  But we fought; and our client received large amount of compensation.

  • For the first time in Shareware Justice's history, a Japanese Company has admitted to copyright infringement of one of our client's software.  This company has compensated our client.

  • It is taking up to 6 months to register a copyright of your software with the US copyright office; because there are many applications everyday.  One of our clients waited for four months and found out that the copyright office has lost his applications. If you wait for 6 months for your copyright to register, you can lose tens of thousands of dollars in settlements and awards.

  • For about $610 USD you can expedite your registration (about 10 days).  This expedite fee is charged by the US copyright office.  For limited time, we will pay for this fee if you decide to use our tracking services.  This fee will be refunded to us with your first settlement check$. 

 2005

  • The news about latest development and case studies will be sent out as newsletters.  For a FREE newsletter and the FREE tracking codes click here.

  • Number of clients has reached a record high.

  • We have received the names of infringers from a number of ISPs

  • Reached a large settlement with a company. This company illegally used 11 copies of our software.

  • Reached many settlements with infringing companies and individuals.

  • The United States District Court ordered Comcast and Brighthouse:  provide us with the names of the infringers of our software

  • Our attorneys have obtained names of Infringing John Does hiding behind QWest and Verizon!  We filed a civil lawsuit in March 2005 against John Does; therefore the court issued subpoenas to  ISPs.   

  • Our attorneys have prepared and filed in the United States District Court, Central District of California, a complaint: Case Number CV 05-02903. It is assigned to the courtroom of Judge G. Gary Klausner. We are pursuing all infringers, both known and unknown, in this action.

  • Obtained settlements with several companies.  Example of infringers include:  a doctor's office, an auto dealer, an insurance company and a semiconductor manufacturing company.

 


 
 
Anti-Piracy articles/news


Software piracy: What can you do about it? - Our own Anti-Piracy story
    
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UK firm pays biggest ever fine over 'pirate' software
June 21, 2007,
An unnamed UK firm has agreed to pay a record fine of £250,000 ($498K) for running unlicensed software.
The company (which operates in the infrastructure and public services sector) was running unlicensed copies of Adobe, Autodesk, and Microsoft software on hundreds of PCs across several UK locations. Read more...

May 29, 2007,
Virtualization's Dirty Laundry Aired in German Court Room

Netsys has sued Parallels' German distributor for copyright violation claiming Parallels' virtualization products are directly based on a line of products that Parallels developed on paid commission for Netsys, of which it says, Netsys has been assigned all copyrights.
Read more

November 20, 2006 - Lineage II Pirates Shut Down.  NCsoft announced that, through the cooperation of the FBI, a major software pirating organization has been shut down. After several raids in cities across the country, FBI agents closed down an operation called L2Extreme,  Read more...

October 12, 2006 - Rockwell Collins and Avcom Avionics Reach Settlement in Lawsuit
... “As demonstrated by this lawsuit, Rockwell Collins will take legal action to protect its software and other intellectual property from unauthorized use; Read more ...

 

Oct 6th, 2006 T.O. firm dinged for software piracy.  The anti-piracy watchdog yesterday announced a Toronto firm has agreed to fork out $73,300 for using unlicensed software. CNews

Sep. 9th, 2006, Web Site Owner Gets More Than 7 Years in Prison for Software Piracy, Must Pay $5.4 Million
Read more

Aug. 29, 2006, HONG KONG: Software pirates get extended sentences - Judge says tougher jail terms reflect the serious damage done to entertainment industry. Read more...

 

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