Imagining you are a software producer/developer, which preventive techniques seem to you the most efficient?

-While preventive control appears to be more effective than social
deterrence, it can still be avoided ("cracking"): Imagining you are a
software producer/developer, which preventive techniques seem to you
the most efficient? Which factors should be taken into account when
selecting an approach?

-Can you think of any specific examples or trends within the IT industry?

I think that the most effective piracy control strategy is the use of preventive controls without social deterrence; because when preventive control and social deterrence are applied simultaneously it can result in a blacklash against stricter piracy control measures.
In my opinion while selecting their approach software developpers should take into account that a reasonable level of piracy can promote software sharing and adoption (word-of-mouth etc). On the other hand, to much control can produce punishment paradoxes when the control is perceived as excessive or unfair .

I don't think social deterrence is the most effective way, above all at the individual level (it might be more effective for the corporate level). Indeed, as saw in the case, people tend to think that a software belongs to the public domain and that excessive piracy controls are an invasion of their rights to use the digital product. As a consequence, social deterrence and excessive and burdensome control and protection strategies don't seem to be the best strategy, above all if they are used together.

I would agree with Chloé to say that a reasonable level of piracy could promote the software as it converts potential users into users. Besides, talking about home consumers, as their WTP is lower, the software producers could maximize profit by tolerating piracy in these households...The fact that the initial adopters influence others to buy might be taken more into consideration.

I think the best way to protect a software is to have a good image.
Indeed, if no one wants to pirate your software, you are fine. Piracy can be seen as a way of promoting your product. Like if you know that in buying this software, part of it will go to an NGO or something like that. It is the same thing as buying green in a way. It is expensive but you know you are doing more than just purchasing a green product.

I think it's important to think of the kind of product, especially if
the user will keep it "at home" or "in public", for instance:

-MS word is often used to edit documents that will be seen in public
(contract between 2 companies!): the use of social deterrence like
watermarks can be sufficient here, as nobody (well most people) will
feel ashamed if there is a watermark stating they are pirates on their
document...

-on the other had, a chinese dictionary like NJstar uses preventive
control: after the end of the trial, you need to pay and get a licence
number to reactivate the software. This is essential here as people use
their dictionary at home and won't feel guilty of pirating software if
nobody knows.

But to answer the question, I think that software base protection is
most important: the company can leave a trial so that the user can get
accustomed to the software before being blocked.

The online registration would seem to me the most effective as it is
easier to keep track of unauthorised versions: the purchaser is issued
a number when paying that activates the software; Just copying a serial
number wouldn't be safe enough...

Preventive controls tied with government support. If the government officials do not encourage ethical behavior, it will not be enforce. I think this is one of the main reasons why piracy is been cracking down so much in the USA. Legislators and officials (thanks to lobbyists) work hard to prevent piracy to the extent of using the FBI to persecute the offenders.

For the purposes of piracy protection, I think internet licensing would be the most effective. Allowing a scaled down version to operate on the users computer is an effective way for the user to become accustomed to the software. Also, by allowing the license to be transferred via the internet, the individual can install the software on several computers but run only one full version at a time. This is a convenient method that is not intrusive for the user, so there should be no backlash. This method is also very effective in protecting the use of the software and preventing piracy. Plus, rather than tying the software to the computer, the software is tied to the user which is much more convenient when needing to use the software on a different pc.

I was wondering if there is a better (more effective) way (method/approach) for a software producer to prevent privacy ?

I didn't mean the preventive control or the deterrence control mentioned in the case. I want to know something originated with you.

I know that there is a software producer requiring users to register their products online at the first time and check if the users are legal users every time the software program starts (there must be a Internet connection to use this software).

Does anyone have a more creative idea which has never been used by any software producer before?

Hi

I would like to share an “anti-piracy” commercial with you from Danish television.
Unfortunately it has no subtitles, but I will try to explain you what happens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZk_8IK-62M


A guy walks into the store (he is a very famous Danish actor, so every Dane would recognize
him)

He is out for some shopping and as he goes to the cashier to pay, the clerk recognizes him
and says: “Hey you are the guy from the movie, cool, I just watched it”.

A woman from the back turns around and says: “Remember you promised to make a copy of the movie to me!”

The clerk is ashamed but then says: “Well, it is alright with a couple of copies for my friends,
right?”

The movie actor walks out, on the way grapping two extra of product he just bought and
replies: “Well, it is alright with a couple of copies for my friends, right?”



I really like this commercial, it is so simple, easy to understand, and has a person
touch since everybody (the Danes) knows the guy, and he is very well respected
among Danish actors and audience. I do believe the industry has a great task in
changing people’s perception toward piracy, but is required if should change.

Another incentive which has been suggested is making entertainment “Flat-rate”, such as
TDC Music in Denmark. TDC delivers TV, Internet, and Cell phone service in
Europe, and as a new service they offer free download of music from a pool of
4.5 million tracks if subscriber of their services. The concept has shown to
have a great impact on the level of pirated music, and I believe that a change
in the pricing structured works far better than many other technical attempts.

What I also believe we will see in the future is a higher level of use in “Cloud Computing”,
meaning that software applications are executed on a remote server, and not at
the individual PC. The user will log on to website and have access to fx.
Office packages, tools for business analytics, and later picture editing
programs etc. In this way it is much easier to prevent pirated copies. Many of you have probably used or heard about Google Docs which an example of a “Could based package”, and it is even
freeware, so it not even “worth to copy”. Microsoft is soon following up with
their versions, it will come both in free and commercial versions.

/Anders

In my opinion the software "Avira Anti-Vir" is a good example for a successful strategie. The basic version for private user is free. It's been tested a lot and the results always has been more than good. But there are some function which might be useful that you get for payment.
Most people in Germany are using AntiVir, because it is free and it is a sufficient protection. And when they are once used to AntiVir they might buy the "Premium" version when they want to have a more widespread protection. That is a good combination of OSS and PS.

Another example is the communication tool Skype. The main program is free, but there are some extra services (call to phones, mobile phones, send sms) which you have to pay for. Millions of users are used to use Skype and a lot of them are using those functions too.

Links:
Wikipedia (AntiVir)
Wikipedia (Skype)

One of the main problems with preventive measures against piracy is that there will always be people who will find a way to crack them. For example, I once read a letter written by Steve Jobs (called "Thoughts on Music"), regarding Apple's DRM (digital rights management) which they use to prevent people from copying songs dowloaded from iTunes. Basically he explained why DRM isn't good, one of the main reasons being that Apple has to hire people to constantly work on new ways for encryption and update the DRM technology, because hackers keep breaking it - and a lot of resources are wasted that way.

Here's the link to Wikipedia if you're interesed -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay#Selected_responses_to_Thoughts_on_Music

As discussed in the paper, there are 3 piracy types: soft lifting (by individuals), commercial piracy and corporate piracy. I believe I have to do more than just working on software side.

I think to nail down corporate piracy is the most simplest. All I have to do is to build in a bug and activate it automatically as users log on line. And then, just send out legal attest letters several times, I will get a deal.

As for commercial piracy, I think I gonna need to work closely with government officers to stop those illegal sale and distribution of software copies.

At last, the soft lifting, well, schools and government are great targets for me. I don't think any educational or public institutes can still do well under the pressure of being caught in piracy. The best scenario might be like I'v got some evidence that which government officer is pirating and instead of making a deal him, I'll just give the evidence to some trust worthy newspaper and make it like a scandal.

I believe all these method will work well intimidating piracy for a while.

As much solutions as we can find, it is hard to stop piracy but i believe that piracy can be decreased. It has been embedded into children's minds that they should not talk to strangers. Most children are afraid to talk to strangers because of what they have been educated on about what strangers might do to them however, there are always the one or two children who still talk to strangers. Comparing this to piracy, anti-piracy marketing would be a first step to take. Anders gives a good example of anti-piracy marketing. Using celebrities and respected role models can get the publics attention. Just like how Hp uses Jay-Z and other celebrities to market their products. Politicians also have to take a stand on piracy allowing policies to be created.

Although I agree that using celebrities and public figures can be a successful marketing tool, I am not sure that it would work when it came to music piracy. I mean, if JayZ had a commercial that pretty much said "don't steal my music" I'd probably just laugh. Re: anders youtube clip, I thought it was clever marketing but might not work in every country. But when it comes to software piracy, I think the method that Uroi mentioned could work.

You say that you would laugh at JayZ, but if someone was to convince young people that piracy is stealing, than who else should it be? Oprah? Obama? Tom Cruise? these are let's say today's "role models", right?

Anyway, the attitude of youngsters is that "the big artists already have a lot of money, so why should I give them more?". But this works mostly for mainstream artists. Smaller ones are supported differently and people in fact buy their CD's (like local country artists). At least this is how it goes in Poland.

Even though I haven't listened to pirated music in years, I think the big reason I wouldn't take a big mainstream artist's commercial seriously is because of the point that Bartek just made about "big artists already have a lot of money, why should I give them more." But I personally would feel bad taking $$ away from struggling artists and/or newcomers to the industry. But that's just me. I definitely think you could use a role model to spread the message but it would have to start on a broad scale before you could get down to each individual industry's piracy problems.

BartekWu wrote:You say that you would laugh at JayZ, but if someone was to convince young people that piracy is stealing, than who else should it be? Oprah? Obama? Tom Cruise? these are let's say today's "role models", right?

Anyway, the attitude of youngsters is that "the big artists already have a lot of money, so why should I give them more?". But this works mostly for mainstream artists. Smaller ones are supported differently and people in fact buy their CD's (like local country artists). At least this is how it goes in Poland.

I think the bottomline is that no matter how much money the big artists have, it is not right to just take something that they have created.