Software Piracy Defined: Plain and Simple, its Theft

Software piracy is the theft of software through illegal copying of genuine commercial programs or through the illegal use of all or any part of the software code of a genuine commercial program for use in another program. Examples include making additional unauthorized copies of a licensed copy of a software program; reselling additional, unauthorized copies of the software program; or taking libraries, algorithms, or individual lines of code from a genuine commercial program and illegally incorporating them into another program that is then either used internally or redistributed, whether freely or for profit.

When you purchase a software program, you are actually purchasing only a license to use that program. In other words, you do not "own" the program outright. You are legally bound to the license agreement that accompanies the software program, and you will not receive a license for that software program without acknowledging that you accept the licensing terms. This license agreement specifies what you can or cannot do with the software program. You can read the End User License Agreement (EULA) for Microburst Technologies software products by clicking on this link: Microburst Software License Agreements

The Cost of Software Piracy

Software piracy results in reduced revenues for legitimate software developers, and in turn takes money away from the financing and development of new products, from the upgrading of existing products, and from customer support providers and customization services. For consumers, the result is fewer innovations, as well as reduced quality of and less support for the software products licensed by consumers.

It also results in higher prices for the software products licensed by consumers, since software developers have to pass on the losses incurred from piracy.

And we can't forget to mention that if you purchase pirated software programs, you are further subjected to risks when the often poor quality of pirated copies contains bugs or security holes that were introduced during the illegal copying process. Then when you contact the legitimate developer for support, you risk legal prosecution when it is discovered that your software was not obtained legally. You probably won't be getting any support either!

Monitoring the Internet for Microburst Software Pirates

Microburst Technologies actively monitors the Internet for unlicensed copies of Microburst software, for unauthorized resellers of Microburst software, for sites that illegally sell "re-branded" Microburst programs that use source code from Microburst Software products, and sites that have illegally removed Microburst copyright notices from installed Microburst software. Microburst Technologies continues to prosecute violators for monetary damages and notifies the relevant civil and criminal authorities. We have successfully shut down web sites that have illegally pirated part or all of the source code from Microburst Software products.

Report Software Piracy!

You can report software piracy to the Business Software Alliance, a (non-profit) organization.

If you are aware of or suspect someone of pirating Microburst software products, either by directly reselling Microburst software under their own name or by creating derivative works that use pieces of Microburst Technologies source code, or if you interact with a website which notifies you in an order confirmation that the site is using an unlicensed copy of a Microburst product, please contact Microburst's Legal Department by e-mailing legal@uburst.com. Your name and e-mail information will not be shared in any way with the suspected perpetrator.