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How would Graham Lea like having his IP infringed?

Register anti-piracy piece wrongheaded

Graham Lea takes great exception to Steve Ballmer's estimate that American the software industry lost $11B in sales during 1998 because of piracy. According to Lea, Ballmer's claims, based on data from an International Planning & Research study, are "overstated". "This [$11 B loss estimate] assumes that every pirate would otherwise have bought the software. Many computer users cannot afford to buy software at Microsoft's prices, so any dollar value for supposedly lost sales is meaningless." Based the rationale, Lea applies (to the property rights of others) he has not suffered a loss when his copyrighted intellectual property is used without his knowledge, consent or compensation. There is no way to know that the publisher would have paid him had they not had an opportunity to steal it! I find it difficult (but amusing) to imagine Mr. Lea making this statement to the editor of a magazine he discovered "pirating" his work - Many [publishers] cannot afford to buy [articles at my] prices, so any dollar value for supposedly lost sales is meaningless. Mr. Lea rests secure in the knowledge that when his copyrights are ignored, and his intellectual property is used without his permission he is better off in the long run, after all "... pirate users are more likely to influence the purchase of legitimate copies of the pirated software in the future, because of familiarity." ® Related stories MS piracy losses claims don't stack up -Graham Lea Right of Reply: MS says stealing is wrong Register readers weigh in Y does not mean X : decoding the MS reply Software piracy stops software development? MS anti-piracy tactics snare innocent dealers How would Graham Lea like having his IP infringed? Phillpott calls piracy kettle black

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