3.3 Computer Crime - 3.3a Unauthorised Copying Of Software
3.3a Unauthorised Copying Of Software
A programmer who has spent many months or even years writing a piece of software naturally expects to be paid for their efforts by those who use it.
This may be done directly, by the author selling copies of their programs, or indirectly if they are employed by a company who pays his salary and markets the software produced.
However, once a computer user obtains a copy of this program, they can easily duplicate it without notifying the author. They could give it away or even sell it for profit. It is therefore, important to control the copying of software and data.
Some software companies "copy protect" their products so that "software pirates" cannot easily copy the data. This is by special programming so that pirates' software copy tools cannot "break into their protection".
Also, another means of protecting software (especially commercial leisure game software) is "manual protection". This generally refers to software requiring a protection code or password to be entered in correctly before the software an be accessed.
The codes are from a "hard copy" - that is, a piece of paper or a book, which cannot be cheaply reproduced by the pirate to accompany the copied software. Unfortunately, pirates can hack into the program and cut out the coding which asks the user for a code.
Another strategy is to customise each genuine version of a program so that the registered user of that version is displayed when the program is running. The clever idea is that when a user is using a pirate copy, they will become aware of it -
and therefore take action against the supplier. However, some users may not take the trouble to do so. Also, clever pirate programmers may hack into the program to "customise" it for their own "requirements".
It costs the software industry millions of pounds a year due to unauthorised copying of programs.
In 1985, the "Copyright (Computer Software) Amendment Act" came into force. This was to protect by law all software published. One problem with laws like this is that it is not clear as to what is actually protected by law.
For example, is it the "program" protected by law, or the "code"?
If only the code is protected, then it becomes difficult to determine how "original" a program is if it is based on another one written previously.
If ideas are also protected, what would happen if two programmers come up with similar ideas independently?