Occasionally, the suggestion arises that software companies actually like certain forms of software piracy, especially in the corporate sector. It creates a dependence on software which can later be turned into legal license money. Now, even some software companies seem to think Microsoft is acting in this way. According to a recent report in US political magazine Mother Jones, Novell and IBM’s Lotus Development unit will pull out of certain anti-piracy programs in Asia and Latin America as a result of the perceived partisan nature of the Business Software Alliance, an anti-piracy group which they all fund. It says Netscape is reluctant to join the BSA for the same reasons. Microsoft is said to have ordered the BSA to stop working on cases that relate to its software, preferring to offer its own deals with the companies involved. Microsoft’s UK anti-piracy manager, David Gregory, denied the charges. It’s like having a police force in a country. The public pays for the police, but they can’t decide what or how they do things. In the same way, IT companies pay into an organization and let them get on with their job.
