One of the most disturbing facts behind this crime is that many people who participate in the distribution of commercial software don't even know they are committing a crime. Software piracy is a very serious and widespread crime that must be acknowledged and dealt with. Software piracy is the unauthorized duplication and or distribution of copyrighted programs. There are two ways to be involved in software piracy. The first is facilitation.
Facilitation is the deliberate copying of copyrighted software and distributing it.
An example would be an MIT student named David LaMacchia. Mr. LaMacchia was caught by the authorities and was acquitted of this piracy due to the lack of legal standards for this crime. Another example is off local bulletin board systems. Many are run out of the offenders homes with just a phone line, a computer and a modem. Most reside in large cities and the offenders are in most cases minors.