When an individual copies a piece of software they copy an exact duplicate of the software all the features that the copied software contains with absolutely no quality loss therefore making it an attractive means of both acquiring and distributing illegal software. There are to consequences to software piracy. Piracy not only hurts business but it hurts the legal owners of software. By stealing software the creators of the software cannot recover their losses nor can they make their program better. Piracy harms all software publishers, regardless of their size.
Software publishers spend years developing software for the public to use.
A portion of every dollar spent in purchasing the original software funnelled back into research and development so that better, more advanced software products can be produced. When you purchase pirated software your money goes directly into the pockets of the pirates instead. This excerpt is from a booklet released by the Microsoft corporation and is about software licensing and piracy. This excerpt accurately displays the truth. Not only is the offender hurt by pirating but every that has legally purchased the product is being affected as well.