It’s Time to Stop Software Piracy 是时候停止软件盗版了

It’s Time to Stop Software Piracy

China has often been criticized for the rampant practice of software piracy. Take a look around. We operate on pirated Windows systems, defend PC security with pirated Kaspersky anti-virus programmes, process files with pirated Microsoft Office, draft 3D designs with pirated AutoCAD, refine pictures with pirated Adobe Photoshop, and study English with pirated Kingsoft’s electronic dictionaries and translators. It’s no exaggeration that pirated software is everywhere.

The logic behind the phenomenon is simple and clear: if a pirated copy is available for just a tiny fraction of the normal price, not to speak of many of the free downloads online, who would pay for an authentic copy? Cheaper prices aside, easy access is another important factor. With such a large gathering of pirated upgrades around, who would bother to spend time and money searching the stores for an authorized yet outdated version?

Despite these apparent benefits, the practice of software piracy should be banned, because it represents unfair competition and by nature it’s a no-win situation. But how? Two approaches are to be taken at the same time: Technically, software developers should enhance their antipiracy engineering, so that cracking the software should be virtually impossible. And legally, the government should also tighten its antipiracy laws and toughen up the penalties, so that violations should be costly.