How Is Software Piracy Addressed In South Africa
Despite a twofold increase in the local PC market, the rate of software piracy in South Africa has remained consistent over the past year. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) published the 2010 Global Software Piracy Study, which found that the country’s piracy rate remained at 35% in 2010 and that the commercial value of pirated software installed on personal computers in South Africa last year exceeded R3.6 billion.
The act of stealing software that is legally protected is known as software piracy. It is theft when software is copied, distributed, altered, or sold. The initial purpose of copyright legislation was to protect software developers (programmers, writers, graphic artists, etc.).
Why has software piracy grown to be such a serious issue in modern society?
Software piracy has grown to be a major worry for many program companies as a result of the Internet and changes in software development. Due to software piracy, software companies are forced to deal with exceptionally substantial losses. By transacting with illegally obtained software, pirates profit greatly.
Why should software piracy be restricted?
Malware attacks are more likely when software is pirated. Security risks take advantage of software flaws. Patches and upgrades are required because of this. Since pirated software typically cannot accept these patches, you are exposed to these dangers.
What is the antidote to software theft?
You can look for your own software on piracy or torrent websites and ask for the product to be removed from search engine results. For your software, employ digital rights management (DRM). Push away updating and patching your own software frequently. Add an online verification requirement to your app.
What effects does software piracy have?
Those that use illegally obtained or counterfeit software risk not just legal repercussions but also: exposure to poor software, corrupt disks, or computer viruses. Lack of or inadequate product documentation. There are none.
What steps can businesses and governments take to ensure that products are difficult to copycat?
Establishing patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other legal protections for all of the things that a company produces is one strategy to ensure that its products cannot be easily pirated. But many people continue to try to make fakes in spite of these efforts.
