Taking aim against illegal software auctioned online, the Software & Information Industry Association has produced guidelines for auction sites to use if and when they have to deal with distributing software on the Internet.
Software makers estimate they lose close to $11 billion a year to piracy, APBNews.com says, but those figures don't include Internet piracy losses. The SIIA is calling for Web auction sites to cut the unauthorized software auctions by banning the distribution of copyrighted software, APBNews says, and reviewing all software auctions before posting or within 24 hours of its appearance at auction.
An SIIA study over five days last August found that, on three of the Net's biggest auction sites - eBay, ZDNet, and Excite - 60 percent of software auctions involved pirated software, according to APBNews. "Internet auction sites have provided an unparalleled forum for pirates to distribute illegitimate software," SIIA anti-piracy vice president Peter Beruk tells APBNews.
And he adds software piracy hurts more than the industry, saying consumers could be buying inadequate or unsafe software which might contain a virus and be ineligible for tech or upgrade support from its makers.
"Buyers and sellers should also be cautioned that distributing or acquiring unauthorized software may subject them to severe civil or criminal liabilities," he tells APBNews.
"We will continue working with them to reduce the number of these items that are listed on eBay," says eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove to APBNews. "We don't want that merchandise on our site any more than the SIIA and that's why we work proactively with them."
Pirated software is attractive in large part because it's often sold well below retail and even discounted prices, APBNews says, adding that should "raise a red flag" to buyers about what they're buying. One example: a pirated copy of Adobe Photoshop 5.0 was auctioned once at $11.99 - despite its suggested $549 retail price.
Beruk acknowledges, however, that a public attack against pirated software might drive the business underground, but he tells APBNews that's still a good thing. "It makes it somewhat harder for the honest consumer to find the stuff, and we hope they'll get frustrated and buy it legally," he tells APBNews. "If you shell out $300 for a piece of software, are you going to really sell it for $14.95? You are probably at least going to try to get half out of it, and if I saw an auction of the same product for $14.95 or $150, as a consumer, I'm going to assume that the $14.95 is pirated copy."
