Bill Langham
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 01:07:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: cpsr-global@cpsr.org
Subject: CPSR-GLOBAL digest 838
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Edupage, 21 June 1998.
SOFTWARE PIRACY BATTLE HEATS UP
A report released earlier this week by the Software Publishers Association
and the Business Software Alliance shows the industry lost $11.4 billion to
pirates who produce illegal copies of software. SPA now acknowledges that
its strategy of settling infractions with a fine and a confidentiality
agreement has not been very successful, and vows to begin pressing charges
and publicizing the names of offenders. "I don't like doing that, but it
serves as an education to companies in a similar situation," says the SPA's
director of anti-piracy efforts. "If they want to keep ripping off our
members, why should we treat them nicely?" Some areas have shown
improvement -- Europe, which had a piracy rate of 90% five years ago, is now
down to 50% -- still, that's almost twice as high as the U.S., which is 27%.
(TechWeb 19 Jun 98)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) and Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu). Telephone: 770-590-1017
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End of CPSR-GLOBAL Digest 838
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