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Oracle Tips by Burleson |
Web Stalkers
Chapter 6 -
Cyber Theft
Software Licensing and the Internet
As the demand for the latest games grows, the
game manufacturer and retailers have little reason to discount the
selling price. Often, the result is piracy. Once this happens,
some over zealous fans will rush to download a copy of the game from
the pirate’s website, causing the sales for the legal version of the
game plummet.
With computer software, users never “buy” a
computer program. The program is copyrighted and the end user only
purchases a license to use the program under specific
circumstances.
Freeware
Another way to legally fight the high cost of
programs is to use freeware. Freeware is, as the name implies, a
type of program that is free. Free is a word that is usually
associated with financial cost. While free software is free to
acquire, the free part of the name refers also to freedom from
restrictions.
The question most people have is, “How do
programmers get paid if the software is free?” There are many ways
that free software creates paying jobs, but they are beyond the
scope of this book so only one example will be given.
When software is free, the source code of the
program is accessible to anyone who wants to see it. If someone
encounters a bug or problem with the program, anyone with the
required programming skills is able to overcome the problem. This
means a company wishing to provide paid support for users of an
application that is freeware needs no authorization or cooperation
from the developer of the program. They can hire programmers to fix
bugs as they appear.
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Oracle
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instant access to the code depot. |
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