Symantec wins big against counterfeiters, but what about 'hearts and minds'?

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 20 December 2007 07:45

Business IT - Technology

You can argue that the loss to the real manufacturer is the same in both cases, but there's a much smaller likelihood that the buyer of a fake would buy the genuine article, or that the buyer is being misled.

The thing about software - and digital content - is that a bit for bit copy is in some sense exactly the same as the genuine article. Perhaps there is a risk that malware may find its way onto a counterfeit disc, but it isn't as if that's never happened with genuine software. And perhaps modifications to bypass the need for a licence key will cause subsequent problems, such as the inability to install subsequent updates.

While Minden is probably right to talk about "protecting our customers against the security dangers posed by pirated software," it would be very easy to overplay this card.

Don't take my comments as a justification for counterfeiting, but companies need to be very careful about what they say about counterfeits and counterfeiters if they want to keep the public onside.

Steps that impact negatively on bona fide users (I still haven't forgiven Microsoft for making me reactivate Windows XP after I updated a device driver) don't help their case either.

Does the low regard that the typical person seems to have for the music labels feed the consumption of unauthorised downloads, or is it an after the fact justification? I suspect the former, but the music industry still seems to be working on the basis of the latter. The software industry might be wise to avoid making the same mistake.