Software piracy: a growing challenge (1)

Software piracy is an infringement of the intellectual property of legally protected software. In general, it is an intentional practice. Various individuals or groups use methods that deliberately copy a program and then redistribute it, usually over the Internet using peer-to-peer or direct download. There is also unintentional or unconscious piracy: buying a license for a product and installing it on several devices within the same entity (household, small business) is enough to make you guilty of piracy.

A worrying increase

Software piracy has become a major problem in recent years. China, the USA and India are the top three offenders, according to a global study conducted in 2019.

According to the study, the commercial value of pirated software amounts to $19 billion in North America and Western Europe, and $27.3 billion in the rest of the world. According to the same survey, 37% of software installed on personal computers was unlicensed. It is highly likely that the Covid 19 pandemic (confinement, and numerous professional reorientations, including business start-ups) has only exacerbated this phenomenon. Experts estimate that software piracy increased by 20-30% during the pandemic, and has remained stable since then.

Part of software piracy is ideology, as some pirates are sure that software should be free and accessible to all, but a large majority use unlicensed products because certain software, especially professional software, is particularly expensive. Many consumers of pirated software are students, or small entrepreneurs who need professional software to get their business off the ground, but can’t afford a license costing several thousand dollars. What’s more, software piracy doesn’t necessarily require highly-developed computer skills; virtually anyone with a computer can turn into a small-scale pirate if they want to.

Software piracy methods explained

As more and more software is developed and brought to market, pirates are constantly looking for ways to bypass security measures and distribute illegal copies, free or paid, of the latest software, or make “classic” software such as Photoshop (one of the most pirated programs in the world) available.

Pirates use a variety of relatively standard methods:

modifying source code to circumvent license protections
use of illegal license key generators
distributing modified versions of software containing malware or viruses.

Other types of piracy are linked to end-user behavior:

Softlifting

A person buys a version of a software program and downloads it onto several computers, even if the licence is unique. This type of piracy often occurs in medium-sized or small businesses, homes or schools, and is generally practiced to save money. It’s the most “innocent” and common type of piracy.

Over-use

Too many people on a network are using a master copy of the program at the same time, even though only one license has been purchased and downloaded to a server. This often happens in companies. This is a version of softlifting, where a single license is used several times.

Direct hard drive installation

Someone buys a legal version of the software and reproduces it for resale. This practice often occurs in second-hand PC resale stores where the device is sold with software already installed. The buyer is generally unaware that the software supplied with the PC is not legal.

Counterfeiting

Software is illegally duplicated and generally sold at a lower price than official software.

Online piracy

Online piracy is the best-known and most common form of piracy: it is the sharing of software (for free or for resale) on sites dedicated exclusively to sharing pirated content (films, series, music, software) via peer-to-peer or direct download. These sites are generally easy to find and accessible to all. It is also on these sites that users are most likely to encounter malware.

Come back on our blog at the beginning of July for the second part of our article. In the meantime, if you have content to protect – software, of course, but also films, series, music albums or sporting events – don’t hesitate to contact one of our account managers. We’ll be happy to help you, so you can regain control of your income!

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