Thanks for the Numbers

maddog's Doghouse

Article from Issue 217/2018
Author(s):

Published rates of "pirated" software give an indication of how much most countries lose by investing in proprietary licensing.

As a believer in education, free software, and the principle that a nation should produce as much as possible of what it needs, I read a story this week that broke my heart.

Cândido Mendes University in Rio de Janeiro may have to sell its seven-floor headquarters building (which contains a cinema and theater) to pay off the fines and court costs of R$4.3 million Brazilian real (a little more than one million US dollars) for using a "pirated" copy of Microsoft Windows. The building is valued at R$128 million (about $31.7 million), but it had no buyers in the first round of auctions.

This was an interesting case, because I would imagine a company like Microsoft would not directly sue a university over licensing issues, and particularly for a settlement that was so large. Normally Microsoft and other closed-source proprietary software companies use the Business Software Alliance (BSA) [1]. This should not be confused with the other BSA, the "Boy Scouts of America", a lthough if this BSA comes after you, you should "be prepared" for the worst.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News