【Feiyang Bimonthly】Give children correct intellectual property education

People who often take the MRT must find that in recent years, more and more people are playing games in the car, whether it is PDA, mobile phone, PSP, and the Nintendo Dual Screen (Nintendo Dual Screen) that has sold more than 100 million units worldwide. very popular. Huh? Looking closely at the cassette slot on the back of the NDS, why is there a smaller cassette inserted in the cassette? Anyone who is familiar with video games knows that this is pirated software, because genuine NDS software will not have such a small cassette. In the past, parents strictly prohibited their children from playing electric games. Now children are really much happier. Parents are not only moderately open, but even willing to learn about and participate in games that children like. But what I want to ask is, "Do you have the right intellectual property education for your children?"

Although I haven't been able to make accurate statistics, at least based on the author's experience, I have never met a parent who knows how to encourage their children to play genuine software. Their unanimous response is, "There are pirated copies that can be used. Since they all work the same, why buy genuine copies? It's a waste of money!" However, since it is called "pirated" copies, it must not be a very decent thing. right?

You think you're teaching your child the virtues of frugality, but at the same time you're teaching him to "steal"! Perhaps you think that the use of pirated software and the crime of theft cannot be compared in terms of "feeling, reasoning, and law", but the value revealed behind this is: "In order to save money, for what you want, you don't have to use legitimate It can be obtained in the same way.” However, because the software cannot be seen or touched, and because of its replicable characteristics, it “seems” that no one suffers any losses, is this really the case?

According to BSA (Note 1) statistics, in 2008, Taiwan lost NT$6.45 billion due to pirated software (Note 2). Effort cannot be rewarded. Although, according to the provisions of the Copyright Law, the amount of pirated software used at home is not large and does not constitute copyright infringement (Note 3); on the other hand, even if you are not convinced that you are not a "thief" , but for pirates, from the point of view of "where there is demand, there is supply", morally, have you also become a sponsor of pirated software providers? Even if they do not provide pirated games, but provide "modification" services (referring to cracking the anti-piracy mechanism in the game console, so that the machine can execute pirated software), it is not within the scope of the law. Because Article 80-2 of the Copyright Law stipulates: "The anti-copying measures taken by the copyright owner to prohibit or restrict others from entering the work without authorization shall not be cracked, destroyed or circumvented by other means without legal authorization. The equipment, equipment, parts, technology or information used for copying measures shall not be manufactured, imported, provided for public use, or provided for public use without legal authorization...", such acts are stipulated in Article 96-1 of the Copyright Law. It is stipulated that they may be punished by "fixed-term imprisonment of not more than one year, short-term detention, or a fine of not less than NT$20,000 but not more than NT$250,000." Therefore, if you spend money to "change the machine", it is probably also a subsidy for illegal businesses!

Of course, for software pricing, we should not be absolutely slaughtered by manufacturers. In terms of the specific measures of the government to combat piracy, in addition to passively arresting pirates (and also arresting the upstream tableting factories in Dawei, not just college students who sell stolen CDs), it should promote a more active mechanism to allow software It can be used legally by more people without causing too much financial burden. For example, some schools have a mechanism for licensing software on campus, so that students or teachers can use related software for free, such as anti-virus, fonts, graphics, etc. Education authorities should urge manufacturers to launch "educational version" software with similar functions, but only authorized to teachers and students, and at a price that can be accepted by most teachers and students (especially professional software such as art and art, which are expensive, in thousands of dollars) , so that students can complete their studies and do their homework without "having to use" pirated software, and also allow teachers to use it more safely in teaching without worrying about whether they infringe copyright. For software manufacturers suspected of monopoly, the government should also show courage to mediate with them, so as not to let the manufacturers speak out. It is important to protect intellectual property, but everything is inseparable from the information age of the computer network. If software becomes a tool that can only be used by a few people with financial resources, it will only cause a "digital gap" and widen the knowledge gap. Harmful to social development.

On the other hand, the use of software is not the only binary opposition of "spending a lot of money to buy a genuine copy vs. spending a little money to use a pirated copy". Free software and free software are also becoming more and more perfect, such as antivirus software such as AVG, AVIRA (commonly known as the little red umbrella), or Open Office for office documents, which can meet the needs of ordinary people in work and life, and everyone can download and use them legally. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to use pirated software under the excuse of "I have no money, but I can't live without these pirated software".

Going back to the perspective of family education, if the child steals a book or a bicycle today, I believe that parents who care about the child will surely reprimand and counsel them. However, if parents encourage their children to use pirated software, they will scold their children with the view of "luxury and waste" when they support genuine software. Is this a kind of confusion of values?

So, what values do you want to give your child? If your child is interested in working in the software industry, your behavior may have poured cold water on him first. When efforts cannot be rewarded, what kind of motivation can motivate software workers to continue to work hard to develop better software? Regarding the concept of "user pays", if you force your children to use pirated software, but you boast that you teach your children the virtue of thrift, don't you worry that your children will use thrift and money as an excuse to use improper software in the future? way to get something else?

Note 1: Business Software Alliance, a non-profit organization established to promote the development goals of the global software and hardware industry, with its global headquarters located in Washington, DC, USA. (Source: http://www.bsa.org/country/BSA and Members.aspx )

Note 2: Source: http://www.bsa.org/country/News and Events/News Archives/global/05122009-idc-globalstudy.aspx

Note 3: Paragraph 5, Paragraph 1, Article87 of the Copyright Law : If there is any of the following circumstances, unless otherwise provided in this Law, it shall be deemed to infringe the copyright or the copyright of production... Reproductions are used as business users.