DJB has described how the software can be bought from the pirates (the original is very expensive) and said it would cost only P100 and he described in what places they could be bought. Violation of the copyright law has a criminal sanction; selling of the fruits of violations of the copyright law also has a criminal sanction; possession is not yet punished in this country (it is, in other countries including ports of entry), but I think any smart-aleck lawyer can make a case of accessory-to-the-crime for those who possess and benefit or buy and benefit (I’m guessing, no one has filed cases for possession and buying). So…for the record, we don’t buy pirated materials. Endorsing the activity, well, he’s not endorsing, he’s just describing the activity, lemme see, it’s just an academic discussion for the purpose of studying the phenomenon and we are not endorsing any act. -marichu
From DJB: (note from the blog administrator: this is not endorsement of the activity, it is just a description, and is being posted only for purposes of study; I teach media law which includes the Intellectual Property Code, which includes copyright violations).
Dear Marichu,
Believe it or not you can buy Pinnacle nonlinear video editing software, and even better and more expensive stuff from Adobe and Sonic, in completely functional pirated versions in the major malls of Manila (100 pesos can easily buy you $100,000 of such software!)Now you ask, why are there no cheaper versions for the entire of humanity? It’s very simple really. The PIRATES have removed all the incentive for smart young Pinoy programmers for example to create such software. Why? Because you can already buy the best in the world for 100 pesos from the pirates.Take for example the most common software used by all PC’s — the Windows operating system. You can buy every version of Windows XP and even Vista now for 100 pesos or less. That’s been true since Windows 1.0 in 1991. Why would anyone (except Linus Torvald, inventor of Linux) bother to write a competitor to Windows (even if lots of AMA and STI hackers probably could)?The Market Leaders are able to LOCK OUT competition because the Leftists in our society have convinced us we ought to tolerate Piracy as stealing from the Rich Countries and their imperialist multinational software conglolmerates.Smart no? -DJB
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Regarding piracy…I am willing to bet you a legit copy of Windows XP that every single PC operated by the University of Philippines contains at least one violation of International Property Rights and/or copyright laws. 100%!
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The Business Software Alliance I think offers Amnesty Programs for large institutions like the University of the Philippines to get legal. They can do a random sample of the PCs on campus and tell you what it’ll cost to get legalized. I don’t know though if they will do a complete sweep for ALL illegal software on board or only operating systems and the more commonly pirated programs.
I used to write software for a living, (as in mission-critical, life-depends-on-it software) so I know its value, power, and importance in the world. We all should.
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