So you want to make nine copies each of your favorite computer programs? That's probably not a problem. Make that tenth copy though, and the next thing you'll be hearing is a Steve McGarrett wanna-be muttering "Book 'em, Dano."
That's the law. Under the new Software Copyright Protection Act (SCPA), signed by President Bush shortly after the election, software piracy is a felony, punishable by up to five years behind bars and a $250,000 fine. Repeat offenders can expect ten years, along with the fine.
In fairness, the federal statute, which was sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (whose Utah constituents include Novell and WordPerfect), is targeted at large-scale commercial crooks--counterfeiters, for instance, who rip off the software industry for more than $1 billion a year by copying disks, manuals, and boxes, then selling them as the real thing. Although designed to protect big software vendors, the law also protects consumers who might unknowingly buy counterfeit software and expect full vendor support, including upgrades.
A few years ago, Microsoft uncovered one of the first cases of large-scale illegal copying right around the corner from me. My neighborhood mom-and-pop computer store was caught with a storeroom full of counterfeit copies of MS-DOS 3.1. At first glance, the shrink-wrapped packages looked real; under scrutiny, they were not-so-clever fakes. Still, the crime wasn't much more than a misdemeanor; the store is still in business and has expanded three times over. Under the new law, the bums would be stamping out license plates instead of duping disks.
More recently, Microsoft raids in California and New Jersey netted 16 tractor-trailer trucks worth of fake MS-DOS 5.0 packages. Unlike my friendly neighborhood counterfeiters, these crooks were sophisticated, right down to the holograms on the boxes.
Nonetheless, certain aspects of the SCPA are bothersome. While the spirit of the law is to curtail commercial copying, there's a chance that the letter of the law--particularly in regard to its broad language--will be misapplied. The SCPA states that "any person...shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense consists of the reproduction or distribution, during any 180-day period, of at last [sic] 10 copies...of 1 or more copyrighted works, with a retail value of more than $2,500." It goes on to say that "any person...shall be imprisoned not more than 1 year, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, in any other case." Differentiating between reproduction and distribution suggests that, as odd as this may seem, anyone making 10 copies of a program for personal use could be in big trouble.
Likewise, the law states that if you make three or four copies of a program for personal use when the documentation states you can only make one copy, you can be fined and sent to jail for one year. There's little question that this part of the SCPA is aimed at individuals making multiple copies for personal use, not illegal commercial operations. Let's not forget that before software vendors and the sheriff can break down your door, they have to have prior knowledge of your duplication efforts, suggesting yet another invasion of our privacy somewhere along the line. While enforcement in this case is admittedly remote, it's still a possibility.
Perhaps of broader concern is what this says about our legal system: You can be sent to prison for five to ten years for making a dozen copies of a disk, while hardened criminals get much less time for far more heinous crimes. In San Francisco last year, a pair of thugs charged with first-degree murder for stomping a randomly chosen college student to death were sentenced to prison for four and six years, respectively. And you can get five years for disk copying? It seems that the lesson here is that murder doesn't go to the bottom line, but software piracy does.
By no means am I belittling the issue of software piracy. It's a serious problem that demands a serious response. Led by the Software Publishers Association (SPA), software vendors have taken steps to fight piracy. In particular, Apple's Developer Group over a year ago launched an enlightened educational program called the "Apple Anti-piracy Initiative" which promotes antipiracy technologies, security strategies for developers, and end-user education.
While measuring success is difficult, the SPA is claiming that, compared to 1990, antipiracy efforts in 1991 made a difference. The SPA says that there was 41 percent, or about $800 million, less piracy attributable to education, legal actions, and lower average software prices.
But considering that software piracy was supposedly cut almost in half a year before the SCPA was signed, you have to wonder if we need the law at all. In other words, if piracy is already on the decline, isn't enacting the law akin to closing the drive door after the floppy is out? The answer is that even when halved, piracy is a monumental problem costing all of us big bucks and solving it requires a law with teeth.
I guess we can only hope that the money we save is worth the price we might pay.
Copyright © 1993, Dr. Dobb's Journal