Printti 8/1985, page 10 Written by Silja Linko-Lindh, based on Electronic Games and Personal Computing Today https://www.flickr.com/photos/pelittaako/16395917939/in/album-72157650920073675/ --- Many Faces of the Software Bandit (Original title: Ohjelmarosvon monet kasvot) A Pirate Can Be a Proper Crook or an Unskilled Parasite Software robbery comes in many forms and the bandits come with many faces. When they talk in Finnish about someone copying a floppy or a tape "for home use", it's not a question of being a pirate, but rather a bit parasite. According to the American discourse, not all pirates are pirates and vice versa. The bandits who cause the most damage are neither the skillful ones after money, nor the ones who hack and crack games for fun or challenge, but the ignorant muggers who mindlessly copy others' work. In other words, there are many different names for the members of the software underground. A Hacker Is Driven by Curiosity In Finland you call a microcomputer hobbyist who actively uses a modem to visit messaging systems a hacker, a baud narc. Here the title doesn't necessarily even have a negative meaning. In America the hacker tradition is one of the oldest and most respected in the microcomputer world. Many notable technical breaktroughs originate from hackers. A hacker is driven by curiosity, interest in figuring out how things work. For a hacker information retrieval is a similar right as life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. Thus, hackers are the forefathers of pirates, because for them every protection is a challenge that can't be declined if you value your honor. In Finland, if you break software copy protection, you're commonly called a cracker. The most brutal translation for a hacker, cracker and pirate would be an "IT defacer". Pirates are often hackers, but not all hackers are pirates. The difference between the two is their motivation. A hacker is driven by curiosity, whereas a pirate is after economic gain. You can compare a hacker's interest in code breaking to someone's insatiable need to fill crossword puzzles. An average pirate doesn't want software houses and databases to invent better protection schemes. In contrast, a hacker wants new challenge. The Unskilled Bit Parasite The lowest cast of the software underground is, according to American terminology, "the mugger". Directly translated it could mean a violent person or a jester. According to the dictionary it also refers to an Indian crocodile. A mugger doesn't possess the curiosity of the hacker or the skills of the pirate. Therefore, a mugger just copies programs someone else has already cracked, using a copying tool made by someone else. Their favorite tools are Happy, Locksmith, Super Clone, The Inspector and alike. A mugger doesn't copy for money -- just for himself and his pals. An animal which benefits out of others is called a parasite in biology. Thus, a bit parasite could be a good Finnish translation for a mugger. Even if the bit parasite -- unlike a pirate -- isn't after economic gain, he is a member of the biggest breed of the IT underworld. That's why at software houses he's more despised than the hacker, and more feared and economically dangerous than the pirate. Robbery Kills Software Houses Out of the 27 British software houses who faced software robbery 10 have gone bankrupt or left the market. One was acquired by a new owner and three have moved from software development to distribution. These figures come from the British software developers' society called THEFT, which fights software piracy. In addition, the report notes that three sofware houses have started legal proceedings. Three more would like to, but they don't think they could afford it. The study concerns piracy cases afer 1982. According to American statistics, piracy has increased fivefold since 1980. The American Bar Association has discovered that out of 283 companies 48% consider they've been hit by crime. The losses are hundreds of millions of dollars. On the one hand it's a question of bit parasites' copying frenzy, but on the other hand also organized crime. A Price List Revealed the Activities Recently a software catalog was published in California with prices and all. All the titles were familiar but copied. The Software Publishers Association i.e. SPA hired a couple of private detectives to buy software from the publisher, West Coast Connection, and involved lawyers, the FBI and San Francisco Prosecutor's Office in the case. The strike was organized over one day and it ended West Coast Connection's activities, returned the uncashed cheques to their owners and, in addition, the SPA demanded a massive compensation from the organization. The case never ended up in court, but West Coast Connection promised in writing to not continue their activities. The names of who ran the organization were not published, since they were all underage. Causes and Effects Those who follow national and international discussions on piracy know the causes and effects of software copying: programs are expensive. There are two main factors that keep the prices high. Firstly, you need to turn a profit from the sales of the first few hundred copies and, secondly, you need to invest more time and effort in copy protection - which increases the prices. One of the effects is that software quality gets worse. No software house is willing to invest a lot of time and effort in product development: the better the quality, the more expensive it gets. And then it's even more likely that the copy protection will be cracked and the program copied soon. It's also common that quality software isn't even released before sitting on it for long, thus increasing its appeal. The game One on One was first published for the Apple, several months later for the Commodore and finally to the Atari after six months more. Likewise, the microcomputer version of Lucasfilm's Rescue on Fractalus was delayed for months. The Other Side of the Coin High software prices are one reason for copying and illegal distribution. But it's only one side of the coin. Software houses who have aimed for lower prices have, likewise, been hit by pirates. On the other hand there are many expensive programs that have evaded mass copying -- not because of protection but their manuals. The claim that copying is a protest against high pricing is not credible. It's more truthful to say that programs are copied because it's so incredibly easy.