Computer programs are valuable property and thus are the subject of theft from computer systems.
However, unauthorized copying of software, or software piracy is also a major form of software theft.
Several major cases involving the unauthorized copying of software have been widely reported.
This include lawsuit by software associations against major corporations that allowed unauthorized copying of their programs.
Unauthorized copying is illegal because software is intellectual property that is protected by copyright law and user licensing agreements.
For example, in the United Sates, commercial software packages are protected by the Computer Software Piracy and Counterfeiting Amendment to the Federal Copyright Act. In most case, the purchase of a commercial software package is really a payment to licenses its fair use by an individual end user.
Therefore any companies sign site licenses that allow them to legally make a certain number of copies for use by their employees at a particular location.
Other alternatives are shareware, which allows you to make copies of software for others, and public domain software, which is not copyrighted.
Software Piracy in E-Business
