This was published in CACM Dec.2000 as

Software Piracy Is Not Just Economics Anymore

===================================================================
A response to 

	"Global Software Piracy: You can't get blood out of a Turnip" 
	by Gopal & Sanders, which appeared in 
	Communications of the ACM, Vol43(9) Sept.2000.
===================================================================

In their article "Global Software Piracy: You can't get blood out of a Turnip," Gopal & Sanders seemingly state the obvious, albeit, backed up with impressive facts and figures. To anyone living in countries where the mean income is significantly below that of the US, there can be absolutely no doubt that the high price of software, often at or even above normal US rates, is a prime factor in piracy. The authors, however, neglect to mention a few other very important factors. First, and perhaps foremost, is the view that most software companies are already making sufficient -even excessive- profits, hence pirating software is not seen as particularly immoral. Second, the fact that most of the companies affected are US-based, means that, in pirating software, people may feel that they are somehow striking a blow against an ever encroaching American economic and cultural imperialism or, at the very least, "stealing" from the rich. It is only fair to point out too, that labelling certain countries as needing only "one-legitimate-copy" is terribly wrong. In most of the countries singled out, it is a gross exageration; no legitimate copies are needed whatsoever!

The parallel with other industries, in particular the music industry, is revealing. The Napster phenomena clearly illustrates that price is not necessarily the major governing factor in piracy. In downloading MP3 files over the Internet, millions of normally law-abiding US citizens -most with the means to legally purchase the items- are openly and knowingly infringing copyright. And yet, they do not see themselves as doing anything particularly immoral. They rationalise their acts by pointing to the excessive profits being made by the record companies, and see themselves as striking a blow against the march of big business. Once a tape is spirited out of the recording studios, it can be very hard to sell many legitimate copies of the record.

The internet means that the replication and distribution of intellectual material will no longer be a lucrative source of income. This not only threatens all those employed in such industries, but in turn means that even the authors of such works must find alternative ways to get paid for their endeavours. Ultimately, "artists" of all sorts will be forced to live either by performance fees or by being supported by advertising or a rich patron. Alternatively, they may survive on donations or find other employment to support their creative talents. If society values its culture -its books, music, software and films- then it must find ways to encourage and support those who produce them. Legislation and education must be geared to the fact that piracy is not, as Gopal & Sanders suggest, solely a matter of economics anymore, it is fundamentally a moral issue. 

David Davenport, 
Bilkent Univ., Ankara, Turkey.