Pirates Claim They're Just Testing Software

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April 10, 1998 (3:21 PM EDT)

By Andy Patrizio,

People who obtain illegal copies of software on the Internet claim they're just testing the products before purchase, but the companies that lose billions of dollars each year to pirates don't buy that argument.

Although studies conducted by the Software Publishers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group, show most pirating activity takes place on college campuses, most of the pirates who responded to a TechWeb story on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) piracy earlier this week are corporate IS professionals.

IRC is a worldwide chat structure made up of several networks. One of those networks is EFNet, which has about 6,000 channels, roughly 200 of which are piracy-oriented, including #exceed, which often hosts several hundred users at a time.

#exceed and four other channels are run by Mad Crew, a group of about 50 members who write programs, design Web pages and keep the peace in the channels, according to one of its founders, "Melen," whose real name is Lenny. If someone tries to spam the channel with advertisements or is disruptive, a Mad Crew member shows them the door.

But Mad Crew claims it doesn't offer pirated software. "I merely run the channel," said Melen, a system administrator and Web designer for an ISP in the northeastern United States. "My purpose at first was to create the biggest channel on EFNet, which I accomplished."

When it comes to distribution of illegal software, "I realize we're not helping matters," Melen added. "But #exceed not being there wouldn't impact this a bit. I'm not forcing anyone to pirate or not to pirate software."

But that doesn't exonerate Melen and his ilk, said Peter Baruk, director of North American anti-piracy efforts for the SPA. "Under the copyright law, there is a knowledge factor," he said. If Mad Crew is aware that pirated software is being distributed on its channels, it is obligated to stop it, just as an ISP is obligated to remove it from its equipment.

"They have the ability to control what is going on [in the channel]," said Baruk. "If it's being used for illegal purposes, they have to remove the infringing aspects or take the whole thing down."

But many say they use piracy as a means of trying out software before committing to what can be an expensive software purchase. "Most of the groups will explicitly say 'Buy this software' if it's worth it," said Melen.

"How often do you purchase clothing before trying it on?" asked Smash, whose real name is Peter, an IS professional in the Pacific Northwest. Smash is part of a small group that distributes software only among its members, and insists he'll buy a program if he likes it.

"I have access to any program I want for no charge," Smash said. "But I've got boxes and receipts for just about every game I've got on my hard drive."

The SPA isn't swayed by that argument either. "Why would they buy it when they've already got it?" asked Baruk. "There are people who do [eventually buy pirated software], but I think there's a greater number of people who don't who say 'Screw it, I got it.'"

Despite the SPA's efforts, piracy will probably never go away, and the pirates know it. "The government cannot stop [it]," said "Ancient," another pirate. "When they take down one WWW site, 10 more come up."