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[News] Free Software a Bigger 'Trouble' to Non-Free Software Than Counterfeiting

  • Subject: [News] Free Software a Bigger 'Trouble' to Non-Free Software Than Counterfeiting
  • From: Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:46:51 +0000
  • Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • User-agent: KNode/0.10.9
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Should Proprietary Software Companies Be More Concerned About Open Source Or
Piracy?

,----[ Quote ]
| We see various software companies and their representatives like the BSA 
| complaining constantly about the damaging impact of piracy on their business, 
| but reader Jon sent in an article that explores how piracy of proprietary 
| software often does just as much, if not more, harm to open source 
| alternatives. So, for example, when people make an unauthorized copy of 
| Photoshop, doesn't that hurt open source providers of the GiMP just as much 
| as Adobe? And an unauthorized copy of Microsoft Office hits the Open Office 
| crew.        
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20081028/0349412669.shtml

Artist Thrilled That His Work Was 'Stolen' By Fashion Designer

,----[ Quote ]
| Later on in the post, the guy, Robert Hodgin, admits that his own works are 
| built off of the works of others, as well. And, that's exactly how creativity 
| works: you build on the works of others. It shouldn't be seen as a crime or 
| something to get angry about. It's a way to provide more materials for more 
| creativity going forward.    
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20081028/0424482673.shtml


Recent:

Piracy Hurts Open Source Also!

,----[ Quote ]
| The lesson to be learned here is that any proponent of free software
| shouldn’t have any interest in using pirated software; if the best choice for
| you is to pay for the real thing, then so be it; but if one’s really
| interested in ’sticking it to the man’, or at the very least doing your part
| to promote the virtues of free software, then the best way to do it is to hit
| them where it hurts; not just the hip pocket, but their mainstream
| credibility. If that credibility goes instead to open source developers, that
| puts them in a position to make something that outshines the competition for
| everyone. And then, no one’s going to have to pay for it.
`----

http://hehe2.net/linuxobservations/do-commercial-software-companies-make-money-from-pirates/


Recent:

Open Source Piracy: Uncle BSA, Open Source wants you!

,----[ Quote ]
| Piracy, the marketing name chosen by the Business Software Alliance to
| describe copyright infringement, is defined by the BSA as follows:
|
|     Software piracy is the unauthorized copying or distribution of
|     copyrighted software. This can be done by copying, downloading, sharing,
|     selling, or installing multiple copies onto personal or work computers.
|     What a lot of people don’t realize or don’t think about is that when you
|     purchase software, you are actually purchasing a license to use it, not
|     the actual software. That license is what tells you how many times you
|     can install the software, so it’s important to read it. If you make more
|     copies of the software than the license permits, you are pirating.
|
| Reading the piracy definition I understood that Open Source Piracy actually
| really hurts open source. Don’t get me wrong, you can hardly make more copies
| than the allowed number with open source, of course. Still you might
| distribute copyrighted open source software irrespectful of the license.
`----

http://robertogaloppini.net/2008/07/25/open-source-piracy-uncle-bsa-open-source-wants-you/


BSA: Software piracy's 'tragic' impact on US society

,----[ Quote ]
| The BSA-sponsored IDC study, available here (pdf), pinpointed eight US states
| in the report. It found significant variations from the national piracy
| figure of 20 per cent.
`----

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/07/18/bsa_us_states_piracy/


Microsoft urges resellers to play it straight, beef up revs

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has claimed that each dollar it “loses” to software piracy equals
| $5.50 in “lost opportunities” to the firm’s channel partners.
|
| A Microsoft-sponsored white paper (pdf) released by IT analyst house IDC
| yesterday highlights the effects of copyright infringement on the software
| ecosystem across the tech industry.
|
| [...]
|
| The BSA has claimed that the value of just PC software that was counterfeited
| in 2007 was close to $50bn worldwide.
`----

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/07/10/microsoft_idc_piracy_claims/


BSA plays the IP card against the European Commission

,----[ Quote ]
| Leave it to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) to distort the definition
| of "open standard" in order to serve the interests of Microsoft and its other
| members. The BSA doesn't like the European Commission's increasing interest
| in open source and open standards to deliver software interoperability.
`----

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9984162-16.html


Has Anyone Received the BSA's $1M Software Piracy Reward?

,----[ Quote ]
| "The BSA hasn't yet paid out $1 million, although we are very willing to do
| so if the opportunity arises," writes BSA spokesman Rodger Correa in an
| e-mail. "That's how serious we take our mission of [intellectual property]
| protection."
`----

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/147448/has_anyone_received_the_bsas_1m_software_piracy_reward.html
http://tinyurl.com/5m7fp2


Related:

Legality of Fedora in production environment

,----[ Quote ]
| Recently the appropriate laws in my country (Russia) have beens
| ignificantly toughened. Now the police can check for illegal software
| usage by their own initiative (without request from the owner). The
| tax inspection demands that software should be registered at
| accounts departments.
|
| During such a checking, the user is obliged now to show all hardcopy
| license documents (with original signatures and stamps).
`----

http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-May/msg00697.html


What about selling free software

,----[ Quote ]
| Gervase Markham, the Mozilla Foundation's licensing officer, in an
| article in the Times Online, talks about being questioned by a
| northern UK Trading License Officer about giving away software.
|
| The trading officer was concerned by a group that was burning the
| free Mozilla Browser on CDs and selling it.
`----

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/what_about_selling_free_software
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