Commercial Software

I find myself in a strange situation. For once, I am actually upset because I believe someone is copying software. I am not a person who is pro-piracy, necessarily. In fact, I don't care for taking something by force, whether by land or by sea. Oh, wait, not that kind of piracy.

What I mean, is I am not a person who would advocate copying commercial software for no good reason. At HOPE Number Six, Richard Stallman gave an interesting anecdote about giving a copy of commercial software to a friend. On the one hand, you violate the license. On the other hand, you are denying a request from a friend. In a situation like that, you choose the lesser of two evils and give your friend a copy of the software. So, under those circumstances, I believe that giving a copy of something to someone to check out or use is fine. In fact, it's probably a great source of sales, though business models do not account for this type of advertising. But I digress.

Most work I do for people on computers is done for very little money, if any, and out of a desire to help people. That being said, I refuse to copy commercial software for someone and put it on their computer. For one, I avoid non-free software at every opportunity. Install OpenOffice.org for someone who can't figure it out or who has a slow internet connection, absolutely. Install Microsoft Office without a valid license, no way in hell. Install Linux on an old system for someone who only uses it for e-mail, in a heartbeat. Use a cracked copy of XP to do the same thing, forget it.

For me, it's not about "stealing" from some big corporation. Without getting into a debate over the word stealing, it is strictly liability avoidance. If I were to install that copy of MS Office, I would open myself up for liability for distributing this software. More importantly, I would put that computer user in a position of having this software on their computer and potentially causing devastating consequences for them. In our Corporate States of America, who knows when copying software could land you in some terrorist detention camp. It's just not worth it. Especially when free software is, in my opinion, a better option anyway.

So this leads me to the problem I am struggling with at the moment. A person who I have known for years is very, shall we say, liberal in their interpretation of software license agreements. I have not ever witnessed this first hand, but I have a feeling that this person may, from time to time, provide high dollar software for free to organizations that would not otherwise be able to afford it. While I admire the willingness to improve technology and help those out who need it, I worry about the situation that it puts them in, and how that could affect them in the future. I have no proof, and I've never observed it, but it is more likely than not, if that makes sense. Of course, I could just be completely wrong and he donates the software.

What I don't understand is why. Why would someone risk the penalties in this day and age of million dollar lawsuits for downloading cracked programs or music? I would wager that I could accomplish the exact same result using free or open source software. Sure, it is a little more work and requires more than point and click, but it is completely legit, and the providers of the software would love any donation they could provide. The problem is not this person's lack of technical expertise, it is certainly there. Probably more so than my own knowledge, in fact.

Surely, instead of risking the spending of thousands or millions in legal fees at some point down the road, it would be better to donate a few bucks to the developers of free and open software that meets your needs. I guess some people are more brave than me. For me, it's just not worth it to do this, when there are better options available.