SoftwarePiracy
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Dictionary apps try to shame supposed pirates, plan backfires
A series of Dictionary apps recently took an, um, "innovative" path to fighting software piracy, though it didn't quite work out as expected. Enfour is the developer of quite a few dictionary-style apps on the store, and it recently implemented an anti-piracy system that hijacked the pirate's Twitter account, and posted an anti-piracy message with the #softwarepirateconfession hashtag. That's a cute way to deal with piracy, you might think, except that the measure erroneously attacked quite a few non-pirates, not to mention invaded a user's public identity via Twitter. Oh, and auto-Tweeted on behalf of a certain Mr. Teller. A representative from the company says on Twitter that the attacks on people who hadn't pirated the apps were the result of a bug, which has since been fixed. But the company is still unapologetic about trying to out pirates -- it says that only 25 percent of its apps in the wild are legitimate copies. It's also not elaborating on this "bug," although to call a purposely built shaming mechanism into your app a "bug" is a bit inaccurate. Developers have tried to stop piracy in interesting ways before. Croteam, the makers of Serious Sam, recently added a huge, immortal monster to the games of any users they'd determined to be software pirates. But invading a user's Twitter feed (especially when there's a chance of accidentally calling out innocent people) isn't the right way to do it. The reviews and comments on the American Heritage Fourth Edition app are a good example of what happens when you make a mistake this big.
Apple reportedly cracking down on App Store pirates
According to a post this morning on Ars Technica, Apple is taking legal measures to make it more difficult for pirated copies of App Store apps to make their way to the hands of iOS device owners. The company is sending takedown notices to Apptrackr, a site that commonly directs users to cracked versions of popular apps. The takedown notices are being sent under the auspices of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which is the US implementation of two treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Apptrackr developer "Dissident" says that Apple has scraped links from Apptrackr, and then sent takedown notices in an attempt to cut off access to the cracked apps. To combat Apple's anti-piracy efforts, Apptrackr has moved to servers outside of the US, and -- according to Ars -- is "using a form of redirection to avoid 'direct' links to infringing content." Some developers have reported that piracy rates for their apps are as high as 80 percent, which would result in losses in the millions of dollars for individual developers and possibly billions of dollars to Apple. Apptrackr defends their activities by saying that their "service" is "for application trials, and nothing else." On the Apptracker site "About Us" page, Dissident claims that "pirates who do not choose to purchase the applications they install are not lost sales. They were very, very likely never potential customers in the first place. Piracy's conversion rate is absurdly low, and developers know that." Regardless of how you personally feel about software piracy, it's fascinating to see that Apple is coming to the defense of App Store developers by attacking Apptrackr with takedown notices.
Microsoft responds to Russian crackdown by extending software licenses to NGOs
Put yourself in Microsoft's shoes for a second: how would you feel if the Russian government used your product as a pretext for shutting down opposition groups? As you know, that's exactly what happened in January when an NGO known as Baikal Environmental Wave had its computers confiscated under the pretext of searching for pirated Microsoft software. The group, it seems, is spearheading opposition to the reopening of a paper factory with a history of polluting Lake Baikal -- much to the chagrin of a certain Prime Minister Putin. In an attempt to keep this sort of thing from happening in the future (and to clean up its tarnished image), Microsoft has announced that it will provide a unilateral NGO Software License that automatically covers NGOs and media outlets in Russia and other, as yet unspecified, countries, and which will extend until at least 2012. "We want to be clear," said VP and general counsel Brad Smith. "We unequivocally abhor any attempt to leverage intellectual property rights to stifle political advocacy or pursue improper personal gain."
Microsoft antipiracy efforts caught up in Russian political scandal
Microsoft's long taken aggressive steps to curb the rampant piracy of its software in Europe, but it seems like things have gotten a little out of hand: a new report in the New York Times today says Russian authorities are using piracy "investigations" as a pretext for seizing computers and other materials from political opponents of the government and news organizations. What's more, apparently Microsoft is quite supportive of these raids -- its lawyers have described the company as a "victim" and pushed for criminal charges. Making matters even worse, Microsoft is also accused of refusing to help targeted groups which have specifically purchased software to avoid being raided -- the company has said it's a matter for the Russian security police. For its part, Microsoft issued a statement today saying that if their outside investigators "do not comport with professional ethics, anticorruption laws, or Microsoft policies, we terminate our relationship with them" and that the company "will act to ensure due process is followed in antipiracy cases that involve Microsoft products." Sounds like this story's going to get even more complicated -- we'll be following it closely.
iPad app dev sees 50% piracy rate
We've heard horror stories of piracy from iPhone developers before, but PocketGamer has news of an iPad developer also suffering from a surprising amount of customers who likely didn't actually pay for their software. Qwiboo says that its iPad app, Aqua Globs HD, is seeing about 50% of its customers on the OpenFeint leaderboards have obtained the app illegally. Vladimir Roth says that the number of users who have actually submitted an OpenFeint score is double the number of legitimately sold apps so far. Now, you can bring up the usual arguments against worrying about a number like this -- that pirates likely wouldn't have purchased the game anyway, or that many of them would pay if given the chance -- but that's a significant number, especially for a system that's supposed to be as closed as the iPad. Roth also says that piracy has been higher for him on the iPad than on the iPhone, and that pricing plays a big part. iPad apps tend to be more expensive (he says that they often don't provide extra functionality, though that obviously differs from app to app), and customers who prefer universal versions don't like paying twice for the same app. Still, the app in question is $1.99 -- that's hardly breaking the bank. It's disappointing to see that even with all of the authentication and verification built in to a platform like the App Store, piracy is still a significant issue.
