Well, sir, from the sounds of it, you've got yourself some pirated software. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to help you.`

PIRACY l What is Piracy? l software piracy is the unauthorized possession and/or use of software

Specifically…. l END USER l END USER piracy is the unauthorized copying of software programs legitimately purchased l CRACKING l CRACKING is illegal access to protected software

Specifically…. l reproducing and/or distributing of counterfeit or otherwise unauthorized software (often over the internet)

Piracy is the equivalent of theft and therefore a crime

Ask yourself some questions:  Did I purchase this software from a reputable software dealer?  Do I have the original license agreement for this product?  Do I have the original floppy disks/CD with my software package?  Did I get the Certificate of Authenticity with any Windows operating system? How do I know if I have pirated software?

Who is Liable? l you are! l anyone who possesses or uses the software

Who is directly affected? l End Users/Individuals no support, documentation, warranties and periodic updates provided by the product manufacturer

Who is directly affected? l End Users/Individuals viruses could potentially damage the consumer hard disks and its contents

Who is directly affected? l End Users/Individuals they are putting themselves (and the companies they work for) at a legal risk by pirating a product protected by copyright laws

Who is directly affected? l Software developers if software wasn’t pirated so frequently, developers could recover their research and development costs more quickly, allowing them to fund new development efforts in a shorter period of time

Who is directly affected? l Software developers l in developing markets, a high degree of piracy also discourages the growth of a local software publishing community

Who is directly affected? l Resellers pirated software results in lost sales, and lost sales result in a decrease of sales revenue for legitimate resellers

Who is directly affected? l Resellers l these lost sales also account for a decrease in tax revenue for the local, regional and national economies

Who is directly affected? l Support Providers with fewer legitimate sales, fewer users are legally entitled to support, meaning fewer opportunities for Support Providers

Rules and Laws l the license accompanying the software spells out in detail what you can and cannot do l you agree to the terms of this license when you either open the package or install the software

Protect Yourself!! l do not purchase a single version of the software and then install it on 10 machines

Protect Yourself!! l most licenses do not permit installation on a multi-user network unless additional fees are paid

Protect Yourself!! l some licenses permit installation on more than one machine as long as the program is not running on more than one machine

What are the penalties for pirating software in Canada? l if caught with pirated software, the infringing company may be liable under both civil and criminal law

What are the penalties for pirating software in Canada? l a civil action may be instituted for injunctive relief, actual damages (including infringer's profits), or statutory damages up to $20,000 per infringement

What are the penalties for pirating software in Canada? l criminal penalties for copyright infringement include fines up to $1,000,000 and jail terms up to five years, or both

Penalties l groups and individuals have been charged with violations of copyright laws l at Queen's University, software piracy is a direct violation of our Computer User Code of Ethics

Penalties l if you install and/or use pirated software at school, and are caught, you could lose your job - check with your own school board policies - they will not protect you if you break the law!

Ramifications l CAAST estimates that the Canadian economy lost more than $457 million (Cdn) to software theft last year alone

Ramifications l losses to the industry due to software theft around the world exceeded $18 billion for applications software products l the estimate of $18 billion does not include losses due to operating system piracy

How the Industry Protects Against Piracy l Installation diskettes that record the number of times the software was installed

How the Industry Protects Against Piracy l hardware locks (dongles), without which the program cannot function l passwords, serial numbers, or other codes required for installation

Freebies (free software) l Beta Software testing stage of its development preview new software in return for feedback on any problems

Freebies (free software) l Shareware or "Trial Software" “try it before you buy it" missing features or cannot be used more than a certain number of times or days is distributed freely

Freebies (free software) l Public Domain l with this type of software, the copyright holder has given up all rights to the software, allowing it to be freely copied and distributed

Freebies (free software) l Freeware l distributed freely, with no usage cost l freeware does, however, have licensing agreements that need to be followed

Disclaimer l we are not lawyers and we are not providing legal advice l these are merely guidelines which will vary depending on the terms of you licensing and contract agreements l laws are constantly reviewed and reformed and vary between countries