The Software Police vs. the CD Lawyers

Submitted by: arnesr

Source: Ubiquity




Ubiquity (An IT Magazine and Forum) has an article about the software police vs. the CD Lawyers. It is written by Dan Bricklin who is related to the SPA (Software Publishers Association).
He thinks that the Recording Industry should listen more to the Software Industry, because they have more success in fighting piracy.

Why isn't what the recording industry doing the same as the SPA, looking to emulate our success? Here are some thoughts:

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The Software Industry

There were two types of "pirates" that the SPA concentrated on for legal action: Corporations that used more copies than they paid for, and companies or individuals who made unauthorized, counterfeit copies and resold them (usually at low prices, or preloaded on systems to make their PCs more desirable).


And the conclusion:


Look at who the recording industry is suing. Not the people who actually want the different use. Rather they are suing the companies that are trying to figure out how to get those users what they want. They think that by stopping the people providing what people want they will stop the need. This is not how the software industry fought piracy. The software industry tried to figure out how to give people what they wanted, even if it meant changing the distribution methods, bundling methods, or pricing. The software industry grew incredibly and is well respected. The recording industry needs to copy from the software industry more than just hiring lawyers.

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