VOICE ONE:
This is Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with theVOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Computer programs are thewritten materials that permit a computer to do useful work. Today,we tell what is being done about the stealing of thousands ofmillions of dollars of computer programs.
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VOICE ONE:
An Indonesian court recently found five computer dealers guiltyof using illegally copied Microsoft computer programs. The programswere the kind usually sold with a new computer. These programs arecalled the operating system of the computer. The five computerdealers made the copies without paying for them. The courts orderedthe five dealers to pay nine-million dollars to the Microsoftcompany.
In December, American Attorney General John Ashcroft announcedpolice actions against one-hundred groups or people around theworld. They are accused of illegal use or theft of computerprograms. Three separate police investigations led to these legalactions.
One of the criminal groups was charged with stealing and makingillegal copies of more than twelve-thousand separate computerprograms, movies and games.
These are examples of recent actions to try to stop the stealingof computer programs.
VOICE TWO:
The modern computer has changed the way the world communicates,the way business is done, and the way many people work and live.Computers now control airplanes, railroads, the financial system andautomobile traffic.
However, a computer needs written material produced by people tobe able to do anything. The written material permits the machine todo useful work. This material is called software. Without software,a computer is nothing more than useless glass, wire and plastic.
Few people would think of stealing a costly computer from astore. They know that theft is a crime. It can be punished with aprison sentence. Theft is banned around the world.
However, many people think it is all right to buy a computerprogram from a person they know is making illegal copies. Or theywill take a computer program they bought legally and make a copy ofit illegally for a friend. For some reason, many people do notconsider it a crime to not pay for computer software.
However it is. And, the crime of stealing computer software cansend a person to jail or cost them a great deal of money, or both.
People steal every kind of software program from games that donot cost much to very costly complex programs for business. Almostevery company that produces software has been the victim of suchtheft.
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VOICE ONE:
The Business Software Alliance is a group that fights the crimeof software theft. Each year it publishes a report for computercompanies that are members of the Alliance. The report attempts toshow how much money computer companies have lost in the past yearbecause of software theft.
The Alliance’s report for the year two-thousand showed thesoftware industry lost almost twelve-thousand-million dollarsbecause of worldwide theft.
The report says the industry loss is partly the result of peoplemaking illegal copies of computer programs and games. The loss alsoresults from large and small businesses making and selling thousandsof illegally copied software programs.
The report also said the United States lost almost one-thousandmillion dollars in tax money in one year that would have been paidif people bought the programs legally.
VOICE TWO:
The computer itself aids in the problem of software theft. Almostanyone can make an illegal copy of a computer program in a fewseconds. This copying is done in homes, schools, businesses and evengovernments.
The Business Software Alliance says theft from a software companydecreases the amount of money the company has for research anddevelopment of new products. That means computer users have fewerprograms that are useful for work or play.
The Business Software Alliance says all software theft isillegal. That means just making a copy of a program for a friend isillegal.
VOICE ONE:
Laws in the United States call for severe punishment for peoplefound guilty of computer software theft. A person found guilty in acriminal trial can be forced to pay as much astwo-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars and spend as many as five yearsin jail.
A lesser crime is called copyright infringement. A copyright isthe legal protection a person receives from the government for awork or product that he or she has created. A copyright makes itillegal for anyone to copy or reproduce the work of another personor company.
A person found guilty of copyright infringement could be made topay as much as one-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars for each act ofcopyright infringement.
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VOICE TWO:
The Microsoft Corporation is one of the largest and best-knowncomputer companies in the world. Microsoft was one of the firstcompanies to begin developing and selling software products thatpermit useful work to be done on computers.
Bill Gates is the head of Microsoft Corporation. He started thecompany in Nineteen-Seventy-Five. One year later, Mister Gateslearned that people were already making illegal copies of theproducts of his small company.
Mister Gates published a letter to computer users. In it, heaccused many computer users of stealing software. He said he couldnot understand why all computer users would pay for a computer butsteal the software.
VOICE ONE:
Microsoft was one of the companies that helped form the BusinessSoftware Alliance in an effort to fight software theft around theworld.
Today, workers for the Microsoft Corporation and the BusinessSoftware Alliance find people who steal software products and thenplace legal charges against them. They work with local lawenforcement agencies and the court system in a country to punishthose found guilty of stealing software.
A good example of their investigative work took place inFebruary, Nineteen Ninety-Nine. Microsoft and local law enforcementofficials in Paramount, California, seized a huge amount ofillegally copied software. Microsoft says the stolen software wasworth about sixty-million dollars.
Microsoft and the Business Software Alliance say the problem isworldwide. They continue to fight software theft in more thansixty-five countries.
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VOICE TWO:
Microsoft Corporation says people make illegal copies of softwareor buy illegal copies because they think they are saving money. Thecompany says they are wrong.
Microsoft says an illegal software program does not have thesupport of the company that makes the real product. Microsoft saysmany illegal copies are of very poor quality. Some are so poor theycan damage the computer that they are used on.
The illegal copies sometimes can not do all the useful work thatthe legal product can do. Often illegal copies do not come with thewritten instructions the company includes with its products. Thismakes it difficult to get the program to work correctly. AndMicrosoft says a computer user can not call the company for help ifthey have a problem with illegal software.
VOICE ONE:
Microsoft also says that a software company usually releasesmajor changes to a program from time to time to make it better andmore useful. Computer users with illegal copies do not receive suchimprovements.
Microsoft and the Business Software Alliance say all the problemscreated by using illegal software can cost an individual or acompany a great deal of time and money.
However, critics say part of the reason for the amount ofsoftware theft is that Microsoft and other large software companiesare making huge profits. They say people make illegal copies ofprograms because they cannot pay the high cost the companies chargefor them.
VOICE TWO:
The Business Software Alliance and software companies say theyare improving their methods of investigating. They are bringinglegal charges against those who steal software products. Manycountries around the world now recognize the harm done by softwaretheft and are now joining the effort to stop it.
The Business Software Alliance says more and more softwarethieves are caught and severely punished every year.
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VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. Our director was CatyWeaver. This is Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week forEXPLORATIONS, a program in Special English on the Voice of America.