1. The problem with piracy

Imagine that you have created a fantastic new computer game... you learned how to program, saw a gap in the market, developed your skills, then spent weeks and months creating it.

You find a company to sell it for you. You are all set to make a fortune... then your 'friend' posts a copy on the internet and everyone downloads it.

All that work and effort will not be rewarded, why should anyone buy it, when it is freely available on the internet?

Or perhaps you are a talented music group just starting out... you write your songs, you make your first CD. Then someone buys a single CD and converts the songs to MP3 and posts them on the internet... no more sales!

This is the problem that software and music companies, large or small have to face. And so laws have been created to protect their efforts.

Making illegal copies of software is called 'Software Piracy'.