wn on software piracy. The fact on Canadian copyright law infringement is not specific to software piracy. This is very dangerous because the first incident of piracy that is taken to Canadian law courts has the potential to be acquitted such as the case of David LaMacchia in the United States. Since the LaMacchia incident the United States have set down harsh and binding consequences to software piracy. A first offence can call for at least five years of imprisonment and/or a two hundred thousand dollar fine. And that is just for the first offence. If you are convicted as a facilitator or have been convicted for software piracy in the past you can face up to ten years in prison and/or fines of up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per convicted infringement. Stiff penalties will not stop all piracy but it is a start and with harsh prosecution of infringements and high consequences piracy can hopefully be curbed on the small scale. There are ways to prevent being caught with pirated software. First of all, buy software from reputable dealers only. The less reputable the dealer is the less chance of the product being legitimate. Do some research on the product you are about to buy. Not only will it save money from buying useless products but it will inform of what types of things to expect with the package. Third make sure that the product had some type of copy protection weather it be a registration number or some type of anti-piracy logo or hologram. Plus make sure all software came with a set of licensing documents. These documents outline the proper usage of the product and warranty information. Then make sure that once the software has been purchased that it has been registered with the company that created it. Buy doing this technical support, updates and discounts on other programs can be attained with out any problems or hassle. Software piracy is a fact of life. It is a crime that occurs at every second of t...
