Piracy doesn’t pay
Here are some things you should know if you use pirated software.
It’s a pirate’s world. Digital media is easy to copy and distribute, and so software piracy thrives, not just in India, but across the world. What does that mean? It means that software companies lose a lot of money. They spend millions of dollars creating great software. But the software gets pirated and sold for prices that are laughable.
“But original software costs the earth! I can’t afford it,” say most people. Which is why people opt for pirated software. There are many people who do not even know the difference between pirated and licensed software. So if their PC crashes or just refuses to work, they often do not realize that the culprit is more likely to be the pirated software that they are running, than anything else.
There are several aspects to pirated software most people are unaware of. Here’s what you need to know:
- You can get pirated software, but you cannot be sure that the software you have just purchased is there on the CD in its entirety. Often the software pirate will not let you test the CD, so you can’t tell, if the CD really has the contents or not. Once you install the program, you could discover that some features do not work, or worse that the software does not work at all.
- Pirated CDs are a great source for viruses, Trojans, adware and spyware. Imagine a scenario like this: You install the latest version of Office 2007, and along with it a teeny program gets installed. It logs all that you enter using the keyboard and sends that info out when you access the Internet. If you have been doing some online shopping with your credit card, you have a reason to be scared.
- Pirated software has no warranty. So if your software does not work for some reason, there is no company you can call for help. You just have to grin and bear it, maybe ask your friends for help. But you won’t make much headway.
- PC crashes happen because of pirated software. So if you use pirated software, it’s best to keep your data away from the drive on which the software is installed. Keep backups as well. If your software stops working, you will have to go for a reformat, and you could lose data. And of course, you have to live without using your PC till it is back up and running.
- Software piracy is illegal, and anyone caught doing it can face legal action. The crackdown is usually focused on companies, and home users usually are not at the receiving end in most countries. But there are some countries which are extremely stringent about their piracy laws.
Software is expensive. And companies are trying to address this issue in a number of ways. They have started launching stripped-down versions and special editions for various types of consumers, and offer package deals. Look out for them, and get a good deal. You can have a better computing experience with licensed software
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