Types of Software Piracy
- Softlifting- Softlifting is the most common type of software piracy. In this piracy, the legal owner of the software is one, but the users are multiple. For instance, someone purchases genuine software, and others will illegally use that software by downloading the software to their computer. For example, many times we borrow software from our colleagues and install a copy of that on our computers just to save money which rises to softlifting one type of software piracy.
- Hard-disk Loading- It is the most common type of software piracy which mainly happens in PC resell shops. The shop owner buys a legal copy of the software and reproduces its copies on multiple computers by installing it. Most of the time customers/PC users are not aware of these things and get the pirated version of the software in the original S/W price or less than the original price. It is one type of Commercial software piracy.
- Counterfeiting- In counterfeiting the duplicates are created of genuine/legal software programs with the appearance of authenticity. Then these duplicate software are sold out at a lower price.
- Client-Server overuse – In client-server overuse, more copies of the software are installed than it has licensed for. Mainly it is seen in local business sectors when they work under a local area n/w and install the software in all the computers for use by many employees which is an unauthorized practice.
- Online Piracy- In online piracy, the illegal software is acquired from online auction sites and blogs which is mainly achieved through the P2P(Peer to Peer) file-sharing system. As it is acquired using the Internet, often it is called Internet Piracy.
Understanding Software Piracy
Software piracy is the unauthorized copying, distribution, or use of software. It involves violating the software’s licensing agreement, which typically shows how the software can be used and distributed. In this article, we will discuss every point about Software Piracy.