Melinda Cooper's Blog

Is Software Piracy okay? Absolutely Not!! It is not okay to make copies of any software, period. It is illegal, immoral, unethical and just plain wrong. This practice hurts a lot of people right in the pocket book. Illegally duplicating software and selling it costs the national economy billions of dollars every year. This is not just lost money; it is lost jobs, lost retail dollars and lost government taxes.

So you want to help stop piracy, but do not know for sure what a pirated copy of a software program really looks like. First of all the quality is bad. It usually does not come with key elements or documentation and the biggest clue is it has no warranty protection or upgrade options. Using pirated software is just asking for trouble, as many of the pirated copies come with a little something extra, viruses.

Look for authentic software with a label on it that states it is genuine. For instance, with Microsoft products look for something called the Certificate of Authority. It is not a license; it's just a visual identifier that says whether it's genuine Microsoft software. Other companies have similar kinds of identifiers to let you know your product is original equipment manufacturer.

While it may be really tempting to take and use a pirated copy of some software that you have been wanting for ages, it is not okay to have that copy. The right thing to do is report it. To report pirated software, go online and search for the company site of the original software and let them know the details of what you were offered. In doing this, you are doing what is right, moral, an ethical. If you ever see or know of pirated software, please use the link below to report it. https://reporting.bsa.org/usa/home.aspx