Compact disc copying nowadays is incredibly easy. Actually, it’s so easy it borders on insulting.
Step one, insert a blank compact disc into the CD burner. Step two, put the original copy into the regular CD-ROM drive. Final step, click on your mouse a few times and approximately 10 minutes later, you have in your hands the latest version of Microsoft Word, minus the hassle of going to the nearest electronic store and handing over $100 for a slight upgrade of your previous program.
Welcome to the world of software piracy. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to picture this sort of thing happening everyday. With the availability of high-speed Internet connections in computer labs and dormitories, many students at The University of Memphis even admit to “burning” CDs from time to time.
It’s even common to see students creating their own CDs at The U of M computer labs, according to lab technician Clayton Davis, a freshman majoring in physics.
Davis’ job responsibilities include helping students who are having trouble using the computers in the labs. He said he is aware of students using school computers to create custom CDs but the lab does not encourage such actions. —Davis himself even confesses to “burning” a few CDs himself and admitted he knows it is illegal.
“You know it’s illegal, but that does doesn’t mean that I, or someone else, am not going to do it,” Davis said.
The issue of CD copying has come under fire over the past several years since the opening of Internet sites such as the now defunct Napster and the emergence of the music format known as MP3s. Napster used technology commonly known as peer-to-peer networking, allowing people to store music on a computer as well as allowing access for others to download the files.
CD copying is also known as a peer-to-peer networking, only it eliminates the middleman and allows direct access between people sharing software.
But the most common question of all is: Is it legal to make backup copies of software?
According to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Section 117 states that copying software does not infringe on copyright laws, provided the new copy is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.
According to the Copyright Act, if a person is caught with pirated software, fines can reach up to $10,000 and in cases of willful infringement, fines can reach up to $50,000 in statutory damages.
But why would someone choose to make copies of CDs even though the person knows they may be violating copyright laws? The answer may vary from person to person, but for U of M student Beau Staples, it is a combination of availability and cost.
“I download songs and movies about twice a week,” Staples said. “I download movies and music because it’s quick, easy and cheap.”
While CD piracy is a continuing trend, laws are being passed and new technology created to deter such action.
An example of new technology being created is Microsoft’s Windows XP and it’s Windows Product Activation. The activation process works by “locking” the software to the configuration of a computer and the 25-character product identification number included with each version of the software.
The new technology is intended to cut down on the estimated $12 billion lost worldwide to piracy each year.
