Singular justice and software piracy

This paper assumes that the purpose of ethics is to open up a space for the possibility of moral conduct in the flow of everyday life. If this is the case then we can legitimately ask: ‘How then do we do ethics?’ To attempt an answer to this important question, the paper presents some suggestions from the work of Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. With Levinas, it is argued that ethics happens in the singularity of the face of the Other before me ‘here and now’. Ethics matters in my everyday contact with the Other that disturbs my egological existence and claims my response. But what about all other Others, not here now but nevertheless simultaneously already present? What about their equal claim on me? With Levinas and Derrida, the paper attempts to articulate the notion of singular justice as the simultaneous demand of all others requiring my response. In singular justice, the paper attempts to show how the demands of ethics (the singular) and the demands of justice (all other Others) can become the impossible possibility for a ‘justice where there is no distinction between those close and those far off, but in which there also remains the impossibility of passing by the closest’. Furthermore, the paper attempts to argue that singular justice is our calling – or more precisely my calling – to do the right thing, here and now. Finally, by way of explication, the paper discusses a case of software piracy to try to show how singular justice can help us not to think about ethics, which is important, but to (almost) do it – which is very important.     

Interaction effects in software piracy

The paper presents an exploratory attempt to analyse self-reported leniency toward software piracy systematically, using an approach based on empirical factors, rather than ethical factors. The empirical factors studied were: (i) social acceptance of software piracy; (ii) the cost of original software; (iii) urgency of the subject's need for software; (iv) availability of original software; (v) knowledge of computer software copyright law; (vi) gender; (vii) monthly household income; and (viii) education level. It provides new insights to software companies and government officials who are developing programmes to promote the concept of anti-piracy among software consumers. This is also the first exploratory research to study the interaction effects among factors influencing the reported leniency towards software piracy, at the individual level.     

Global software piracy: Trends and strategic considerations

The design, manufacture, distribution, and sale of software constitutes a rapidly growing and remarkably lucrative global industry. Leaders of most software companies understand that intellectual property rights (IPR) typically are vital to competitive advantage and company success. Theft of intellectual property (IP) in the form of software piracy is brazen, extremely costly, lowers incentives to innovate, and threatens the very existence of some companies. IP theft, therefore, is a daunting challenge for managers of software firms. In this article, we make several contributions that should prove helpful to software designers, managers, responsible users, and broad stakeholders of software innovation and use—that is, almost all of us. In doing so, we provide an overview of international legal, ethical, economic, and systemic considerations, and we share an analysis of the drivers of consumer software piracy. We then discuss strategic considerations and introduce a decision-making typology, which may help legitimate companies to devise strategies and tactics to manage their software IP in the face of widespread piracy.     

The morality of software piracy: A cross-cultural analysis

Software piracy is a damaging and important moral issue, which is widely believed to be unchecked in particular areas of the globe. This cross-cultural study examines differences in morality and behavior toward software piracy in Singapore versus the United States, and reviews the cultural histories of Asia versus the United States to explore why these differences occur. The paper is based upon pilot data collected in the U.S. and Singapore, using a tradeoff analysis methodology and analysis. The data reveal some fascinating interactions between the level of ethical transgression and the rewards or consequences which they produce.William R. Swinyard is a Professor of Business Management and holder of the Fred G. Meyer Chair of Retailing at Brigham Young University. Professor Swinyard publishes widely in many top marketing journals, and his work has appeared previously in this journal. Heikki Rinne is an Associate Professor of Business Management at Brigham Young University. He has published in numerous academic journals including the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Retailing, the European Journal of Operational Research, the Journal of Retailing, etc. Ah Keng KAU is an Associate Professor with the Department of Marketing, National University of Singapore, and was previously Director of the School of Postgraduate Management Studies and Head of the Department of Marketing there. Dr. Kau has published papers in many western and international journals.     

Situational determinants of software piracy: An equity theory perspective

Software piracy has become recognized as a major problem for the software industry and for business. One research approach that has provided a theoretical framework for studying software piracy has been to place the illegal copying of software within the domain of ethical decision making assumes that a person must be able to recognize software piracy as a moral issue. A person who fails to recognize a moral issue will fail to employ moral decision making schemata. There is substantial evidence that many individuals do not perceive software piracy to be an ethical problem. This paper applies social exchange theory, in particular equity theory, to predict the influence of situational factors on subjects' intentions to participate in software piracy. Consistent with the predictions of equity theory this study found that input and outcome situational variables significantly effect a person's intentions to commit software piracy.Richard S. Glass is an Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems at Bryant College in Smithfield RI. His current research interests include the ethical use of information technology, decision making, decision support systems and expert systems.Wallace A. Wood is a Professor of Computer Information Systems at Bryant College in Smithfield RI. His current research interests include the ethical use of information technology and the effective use of information systems.     

An analysis of the predictors of software piracy within Latin America

Corruption has become an increasingly salient issue in recent years due to the increasing pressure placed on top management teams of multinational firms to maintain high moral standards in all facets of their operations. The level and scope of corruption in a particular country is worthy of consideration as companies seek potential export markets and global partners. While macro-level academic research related to causes of corruption has burgeoned in the past decade, there is a lack of depth and breadth with respect to corruption research in Latin America. The current study analyzes patterns of software piracy (a notorious type of corruption) for 20 Latin American nations. Results indicate that economic growth, foreign direct investment, Internet usage, and development assistance relate to software piracy rates in Latin America.     

How many pirates should a software firm tolerate?: An analysis of piracy protection on the diffusion of software

This paper examines the relationship between the rate of software diffusion and piracy. Literature suggests that tolerating some piracy can be justified since it speeds up software diffusion. The question is, how much should be tolerated? Using innovation diffusion models of software adoption by legal buyers and pirates, answers to this question are obtained for the three scenarios of monopoly, multiple generations of software and competitive markets. Results include, for example, that a monopoly should start with minimum protection of its software but well before the product has diffused half way, impose maximum protection and maintain it thereafter. The results provide important strategic guidelines for firms in the software industry for managing piracy.     

Software piracy and outsourcing in two-sided markets

This paper examines the role of software piracy in digital platforms where a platform provider makes a decision of how much software to produce in-house and how much to outsource from a third-party software provider. Using a vertical differentiation model, we theoretically investigate how piracy influences the software outsourcing decision. We find that when piracy is intermediate, the loss in in-house software profits due to piracy outweighs the loss in licensing fee profits. As a result, an increase in piracy leads to more outsourcing. However, when piracy is high, it becomes too expensive for the platform provider to subsidize the software provider, resulting in a decrease in outsourcing. Moreover, when software variety is also endogenously chosen by firms, the platform provider’s incentive to develop software variety in-house depends not only on the return from software profits but also on the return from hardware profits. Under such a situation, an increase in piracy always leads to less outsourcing and less total software variety. To provide additional insights on the outsourcing decision, we conduct empirical analyses using data from the U.S. handheld video game market between 2004 and 2012. This market is a classical two-sided market, dominated by two handheld platforms (Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable) and is known to have suffered from software piracy significantly. Our regression results show that in this market, piracy increases outsourcing but has no effect on the total software variety.

     

Inter-firm R&D networks in the global software industry: An overview of major trends and patterns

This paper presents an analysis of some major historical trends in inter-firm R&D partnering in the international software industry during the period 1970–1999. Our research demonstrates an overall growth pattern of newly made R&D partnerships and reveals the important role played by leading firms. We also examine the emergence of various R&D networks in the software industry, indicating the change from sparse and disconnected inter-firm R&D networks to dense and well-connected networks since the second half of the 1980s.     

Power and control in the franchise network: an investigation of ex-franchisees and brand piracy

This research considers the issue of franchisees who exit the franchise system in order to continue operating independently. The literature regarding incentives for entering franchising is reviewed in an attempt to reveal why franchisees become dissatisfied and leave. The use of power by the franchisor and its relationship to brand piracy by franchisees is explored. Franchisors and their current and former franchisees are interviewed to uncover insights into this phenomenon. Explanations concerning the effectiveness of contractual remedies, dissatisfaction with the franchise, level of dependence and expectations in the relationship, and franchisor-franchisee goal incongruence are proposed.     

Motivators and enablers of SCOURing: A study of online piracy in the US and UK

Sharing Copyrighted or Unauthorized Replications (SCOURing) is a common activity among some 80 million online file-swappers. Unfortunately, SCOURing is also an illegal activity. A better understanding of SCOURing could help to mitigate its practice. To that end, results from an empirical study of US and UK consumers suggest SCOURing is explained by motivations (justification, believed pervasiveness by peers, believed risklessness, and experiential reasons) and ability (tech-savviness). If true, then companies' efforts to reduce SCOURing by legal action or trying to educate consumers about the victims of SCOURing may be ineffective.     

International heterogeneity in the associations of new business models and broadband Internet with music revenue and piracy

Broadband Internet has fundamentally changed business models in many industries. In the music industry, for instance, old business models were challenged by illegal competitors, and broadband Internet has enabled value creation through new business models. The changes that established business models experienced in the wake of broadband Internet, however, differed vastly across national markets, and these differences are not well understood. We build a conceptual framework and study the extent to which differences in economic and cultural factors are associated with different market outcomes in the wake of the proliferation of broadband Internet. Thus, we compile two unique data sets from the music industry, comprising (1) revenue data for 36 countries and 22 years and (2) piracy data for 47 countries and >2 years. We use a Bayesian multilevel model to explore between-country heterogeneity in the associations between these variables and broadband Internet adoption and business model innovations. Our results show that the negative association between broadband Internet penetration and music revenue is weaker in high-income countries, where income restrictions are less likely to drive demand towards illegitimate piracy services. In terms of cultural factors, we find that a market's response to the introduction of broadband Internet is less negative in countries scoring high on Hofstede's individualism and uncertainty avoidance dimensions. Furthermore, we find that overall revenues only recover after the latest generation of streaming services (e.g., Spotify) has been introduced, and the adoption of these services is associated with lower levels of online music piracy.     

The internationalization process of Brazilian software firms and the born global phenomenon: Examining firm,network, and entrepreneur variables

This paper examines the born-global phenomenon in the context of an emerging country, Brazil. A literature review was conducted in order to develop an integrative model of the phenomenon under study. Three sets of internal variables were identified in the literature which seemed to explain why a firm would follow a born global, rather than a traditional, internationalization process: firm, network, and entrepreneur variables. The final conceptual model was tested in a Brazilian sample of 79 software firms, of which 35 followed the born-global process of internationalization and 44 followed the traditional process. Logistic regression was used to test the research hypotheses. Results showed that certain firm and entrepreneur variables seemed to be associated to the type of internationalization process chosen by these firms. Network variables did not significantly differentiate the two groups.     

An assessment of the impact of counterfeiting in international markets: The piracy paradox persists

This paper investigates recent trends in counterfeiting in the international marketplace. The primary objectives of this paper are to provide the international manager with (1) an overview of the legal framework that governs the protection of intellectual property rights, primarily against pirates; (2) a review of different anti-counterfeiting strategies; and (3) a summary of distinct labeling techniques used to distinguish between the “real” versus “fake” good.     

软件工程在软件开发中的应用

通过分析软件开发过程中存在的问题,引入软件工程的概念,并概括了利用软件工程进行软件开发中最重要的3个方面.传统的软件工程方法将被面向对象的方法所取代,组件技术必将越来越倍受重视,同时更加新颖、更加先进的方法也必将会出现.     

软件工程在软件开发中的应用

通过分析软件开发过程中存在的问题,引入软件工程的概念,并概括了利用软件工程进行软件开发中最重要的3个方面.传统的软件工程方法将被面向对象的方法所取代,组件技术必将越来越倍受重视,同时更加新颖、更加先进的方法也必将会出现.     

Evolving and enduring challenges in global mobility

This article reviews the past 50 years of the science and practice of global mobility in organizations, highlighting the continuum of issues – from those that have endured throughout the decades to those that have changed as a function of economic, competitive, and demographic trends. At this latter end of the continuum, the field of global mobility has seen dramatic changes in the strategic deployment of expatriates, changes in assignment types, and demographic changes in the profile of expatriates. These are discussed in the first part of the article. In the second part of the article we review the issues which have been impervious to change over the years. We draw upon recent evidence from the fields of neuroscience and human development to examine two of the more enduring issues of global mobility: the change in individuals’ competencies as a function of living and working in another country and the personality characteristics and motivation related to expatriates’ success abroad. Taken together, these enduring and evolving issues in global mobility have implications for future research and practice.     

Convergence in global markets and consumer behaviour

Consumer behavioural scientists such as economists and marketing researchers are interested in the degree to which global convergence is occurring with respect to various consumer behaviour dimensions, particularly the extent that consumption patterns in products appear to evolve and become more similar across different parts of the world. With increasing internationalization and cultural cross‐fertilization, the traditional societies of the world are converging in many ways. The strategic marketing of flavoured alcoholic beverages is a particularly interesting example of this evolutionary process to convergence. Consumers in countries of different cultural originations are developing preferences for the same products and show increasing sign of converging around global product identity. This article presents the results of a study analysing the evolutionary process.     

The existence and persistence of the pay-per-use bias in car sharing services

A key benefit of using car sharing services (relative to car ownership) is that they are more cost effective. Car sharing firms offer a menu of pricing plans to make this happen. The two most common plans are flat-rate and pay-per-use pricing. However, little is known about how consumers choose among these pricing plans. In this study, we analyze consumers' choices between pay-per-use and flat-rate pricing using data from a car sharing provider in a large European city. In contrast to previous research, we find a prevalent and time-persistent pay-per-use bias. Specifically, depending on the definition of the bias, 21% to 32% of customers exhibit this bias. This bias also persists over time within customer. We propose three potential explanations for the existence and persistence of this bias. First, we suggest that customers underestimate their usage. Second, we propose that customers have a preference for flexibility, leading them to pay more. Finally, we show that the physical context, such as weather, increases the likelihood of a pay-per-use bias. Our findings suggest that more research into consumer response to pricing in the Sharing Economy is needed.