Standing up to EBay’s software piracy epidemic…finally

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Standing up to EBay’s software piracy epidemic…finally

By Jon Gillespie-Brown | March 10, 2008

For years people have been trying to get eBay to remove pirates from the auction site who are selling cracked copies of their products.

eBay’s refrain “it’s not our fault, we are just the marketplace”…baloney, they don’t want to face up to their responsibilities. Why not? because it will be very hard and very expensive.

They have come up with an onerous and painful way to request politely to have these people removed but when eBay eventually gets round to getting them off - usually after $10Ks of losses for the ISV - these same people just start all over again under a new name. Do they end up in jail no! Is there an disincentive to them or any real downside - no!!

Don’t get me wrong, I realize this must be a colossal pain for eBay and they would not do this if they could easily avoid it but I still don’t see them really stepping up to the plate to actively police and ban the crackers.

What’s even worse is that the other authorities are so swamped unless you are Microsoft or Adobe they don’t want to know…so where does that leave us ISV’s?

Well in reality we have some good choices for Software protection and licensing to help but is should also be down to all the others in the chain that “aid and abet” these crooks to do something about it.

Well I am glad to say that SIIA has stepped up to the plate it has started to take action against some of the more visible resellers of Pirated Software on eBay.

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) announced today it has filed the largest round of lawsuits since launching its auction site anti-piracy program two years ago.

SIIA filed nine separate suits in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, on behalf of members Adobe Systems Incorporated and Symantec Corporation. The lawsuits are part of SIIA’s comprehensive program to battle rampant auctioning of pirated software.

OK, OK it’s for the big boys but it does start the process of a wider crackdown and will hopefully put off some of the smaller crooks too.

“SIIA has declared war against those who continue to sell pirated software on auction sites such as eBay,” says Keith Kupferschmid, SVP of SIIA’s Anti-Piracy Division. “Our goal is to give illegal software sellers a rude awakening, so that unsuspecting software buyers and legitimate sellers are protected. For too long, auction sellers have been able to sell pirated software while risking only the removal of their auction. SIIA has upped the ante by bringing those who pirate software to justice in court.”

This is great for all of us in the longer run as at least the SIIA has an official program to monitor and prosecute unlike eBay and their rivals:

The SIIA Auction Litigation Program monitors popular online auction sites, identifies individuals or groups selling pirated software and sues those pirates on behalf of the association’s member companies.

The SIIA Auction Litigation Program is part of a continuing program to work with buyers and sellers on auction sites to get the word out that pirated software is bad for both ends of the sale. Sellers can be prosecuted and buyers can be stuck with viruses, no technical support and no recourse.

I am also glad that they are trying to popularize the notion with the end user that piracy is not good for them either:

SIIA’s Don’t Get Mad, Get Even Campaign offers a way for purchasers to strike back – they report the illegal sale, provide proof (disks) and receive money back to buy legal copies.

All of us ISV’s need to join in the fight rather than lie down and take it - we should support SIIA and report all of these guys to eBay and the likes on a regular basis until eBay is forced to do more about it or they get the hint!