Why People buy Pirated Products
Piracy is no doubt very rampant in the developing nations compared to the developed nations. But what exactly prompts usage of pirated software and applications? The reasons are simple:
- Easy availability and access to it
- Low cost (imagine getting a software that actually cost Rs. 12,000 for Rs 100)
In addition to home users, many SMBs too use pirated software for the same reason –low cost. Everybody knows about the pitfalls but still uses it because these pirated products are cheap compared to the genuine products, and hence tremendously cuts down on operational cost.
Is Could Computing a way to fight piracy?
Government and federal as well as state agencies have tried their best to stop piracy; but there efforts have proved futile. Despite knowing the risks involved, people are still using these products and the reason is still the same---low price.
Hence, I think and believe Cloud Computing mainly SaaS will be able to drive down piracy. SaaS products are/will be cheap and easy to access.
Many vendors, SMBs and home users I spoke with mentioned that they would prefer not to use pirated stuff if the genuine software is available at reasonable price. They also agree that SaaS solutions are easy to access and are low priced – no doubt so many SMBs are already adopting SaaS solutions.
So to prevent piracy, adopt Cloud Computing and provide the solutions in SaaS mode.
