Software piracy in Kerala - A foreigner’s perspective
January 13th, 2007
Dr. Johnson C Philip in a post titled “Only fools use freeware” comments on software piracy in Kerala,
I live in a fast-growing town in Kerala, India. Fast-growing also means a town loaded with computer-fans. Even the janitor in our church seems to consult a computer before he sweeps so that he can cover the whole are in minimum sweeps and also to to decide upon the the latest ergonomical strokes of the broom to obtain maximum cleaning with optimum effort.
When I tell them that PageMaker or Photshop cost a fortune and that I cannot afford to buy them, they simply cannot believe themselves. “Pardon me” is a common response. Pity about my ignorance of the ease of copying is their feeling. But once they are sure that I meant what I said (or vice versa, for some young ones in this town think in reverse), then without exception the next question is: why, you do not have to pay to copy!
My answer to the above question startles them yet more: of yes, one has to pay through the nose (and every conceivable organ) to freely copy software. It takes a little longer for them to understand that I meant it when I said that copying commercial software is illegal, and copy-and-use is stealing. That there is no essential difference between the common pickpocket and such people, except that he is uneducated and we are terribly educated (of courses, the pun here intentional).
What is written is true, but this is not limited to software alone. Some malayalis even think that it is an achievement to do illegal things without getting caught! (Breaking traffic rules, bribing and getting things done etc.)
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January 15th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
What is written might be true from his point of view, and I never heard anyone saying stuff like this without having a doubt, being so sure of his ideas… I think it is at least a matter of debate. I am not proud of using illegal software, but I am not ashamed for doing it either… Keep some doubts when you’re thinking. It might do you good…
January 15th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Matter of debate? How is whether stealing right or wrong a matter of debate? It is completely unjustified when you have other free software.
It is like saying I can’t afford 5 star accommodation, so I use fake credit card at the hotel!
January 17th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
[...] Kerala is famous for protesting things which don’t affect us, but protesting for the rights to break the law has to be the first. How hard is it to grasp the concept that stealing software or movies is illegal? The film industry has all the rights to support the raids. There are many reasons why piracy is rampant as Brijesh writes Another reason why piracy of movies is so rampant in India – rising cost of movie tickets. About 15 years back a balcony ticket for a movie in Kerala would cost something around Rs.10. Now it costs around Rs.50. So for a family of four to watch a movie it would cost about Rs.200. Most Indian families cannot afford to spend Rs.200 for a movie. Instead they borrow a CD for Rs.10 and watch it. So what is the solution for such a situation? [...]
February 14th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
[...] During my break my father graciously kept the blog going and managed to post some real interesting material that drew comments, fans and accolades. [...]
June 21st, 2007 at 12:30 pm
hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
May 30th, 2008 at 9:41 am
the software companies and their lackeys complain endlessly about software piracy,well inspite of all the piracy in all parts of the world bill gates is still the richest man in the world and so are steve jobs and almost all the softwere czars.So what are they complaining about? If they dont like it they should learn to tolerate that or just consider piracy as a small leak in the system.Get real
January 1st, 2009 at 11:32 pm
up up freeware