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VOICE ONE:
This is Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember withEXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Computer programs are thewritten materials that permit a computer to do useful work. Today,we tell what is being done about people who illegally copy, sell orsteal thousands of millions of dollars of computer programs.
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VOICE ONE:
A court in Richmond, Virginia recently found a man guilty ofillegally copying and selling computer software. The software wasthe product of the Microsoft Corporation. He was sentenced to almostsix years in prison. He also will have to pay almost two milliondollars to Microsoft Corporation for stealing its computer software.
Recently a citizen of China was about to fly home from the UnitedStates. As he waited to enter the airplane, agents of the FederalBureau of Investigation arrested him for stealing computer software.He has confessed to the crime in court and told the judge he wasguilty of software theft. He could face as many as four years inprison and be forced to pay a fine of two hundred fifty thousanddollars.
These are only two examples of several hundred trials or chargesagainst people who have been caught copying and stealing computersoftware. Police agencies around the world are working to stopcomputer software theft.
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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. Acomputer needs written material called software to be able to doanything. Entering the written material into the computer causes themachine to operate. Without software, a computer is nothing morethan glass, wire and plastic.
Few people would think of stealing a costly computer from astore. They know that theft is a crime. However, many people thinkit is all right to buy a computer program from a person they know ismaking illegal copies. Or they will take a computer program theybought legally and make an illegal copy of it for a friend.
For some reason, many people do not consider the theft ofcomputer software a crime. They are wrong. The crime of copying,selling or stealing computer software can send a person to jail orcost 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 business programs. Almost everycompany that produces software has been the victim of such theft.
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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.
In two thousand-three, the Software Alliance worked with theInternational Data Corporation to write the report. IDC studiedcomputer software use in eighty-six countries. The report showedthat computer users around the world spent more than fifty thousandmillion dollars on legally bought computer software. Yet computersoftware worth almost eighty thousand million dollars was placed orinstalled on computers during the same period of time.
The report says the legal sale of computer software shouldincrease from fifty thousand million dollars to seventy thousandmillion dollars in the next five years. At the same time, the reportsaid that more than forty thousand million dollars worth of computersoftware will be copied, sold illegally, or stolen.
The report says the industry loss is partly the result of peoplemaking illegal copies of computer programs and games. A major lossresults from large and small businesses making and selling thousandsof illegally copied software programs.
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.
VOICE ONE:
Governments around the world have approved new and stronger lawsagainst the theft of computer software. Laws in the United Statescall for severe punishment for people found guilty of computersoftware theft. Sentences can include many years in jail and theguilty person can be forced to pay large amounts of money.
One crime is called copyright infringement. A copyright is thelegal protection a person receives from the government for a work orproduct that he or she has created. A copyright makes it illegal foranyone to copy or reproduce the work of another person or company.
Copyright infringement is a federal crime. A person found guiltycould be sentenced to as many as five years in federal prison and bemade to pay as much as two hundred fifty thousand dollars.
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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.
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 of stealing software. He said he could not understandwhy all computer users would pay for a computer but steal thesoftware.
VOICE ONE:
Microsoft was one of the companies that helped form the BusinessSoftware Alliance in an effort to fight software theft around theworld.
Microsoft Corporation says people make illegal copies of softwareor buy illegal copies in an effort to save money. The company saysthey 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 cannot do all the useful work thatthe legal product can do. Often illegal copies do not have thewritten instructions the company includes with its products. Thismakes it difficult to get the program to work correctly.
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.
VOICE TWO:
Microsoft Corporation and the Software Alliance work with lawenforcement agencies around the world. They work to find people whosteal software products and then the law enforcement agencies bringcharges against them. The companies also work with local lawenforcement agencies and court systems in an effort to help themlearn how to deal with this crime.
The United States government is very active in fighting softwaretheft. “Operation Buccaneer” is an international program thatinvestigates and fights copyright theft. “Operation Buccaneer”continually investigates the theft of computer software, movies,games and music.
Its major aim is to find those criminals that use the Internet tosend, receive or sell stolen material. One investigation involvedcriminals in the United States, Russia, Israel, Brazil and severalcountries in Western Europe. One of the members of this group wasarrested in the United States.
He will soon stand trial for violating federal criminal copyrightlaws and for having stolen property in his possession. If foundguilty, he could face as many as ten years in jail and be made topay two hundred fifty thousand dollars.
The Business Software Alliance says methods of investigatingsoftware thefts are improving. Many countries around the world nowrecognize the harm done by software theft and are joining the effortto stop it. The Alliance says more and more software thieves arecaught and severely punished every year.
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VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byMario Ritter. This is Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.