How Proprietary Software Rewards Theft In Developing Countries (September 10th, 2003) | KnowProSE.com
How Proprietary Software Rewards Theft In Developing Countries (September 10th, 2003) | KnowProSE.com: "On the main computing list here in Trinidad and Tobago, someone sent out a link to Outsourcing: does it reward theft? - and asked some rather good questions.
I responded, and the response I gave is below, though changed a bit so that it can stand on it's own.
'Intellectual Property' and 'Piracy', as well as other similar concepts constitute the Pandora's box of proprietary software. Much has been written of these, and for those of you who haven't been paying attention - START paying attention. The rights you save may be your own.
If all one knows is proprietary software, one may think that this is an unavoidable problem. While it's important to understand that credit should be given and copyright hono(u)red, there's more to this than meets the eye. When one looks at alternative methodologies, a rote comparison is not always possible - a control must be used.
Let's use business performance and ethics as the controls. Just for giggles. And to drive the point home, let's use a developing country - Trinidad and Tobago - as a good place to start. Let's look at ways a software company in Trinidad and Tobago can make a profit.
Trinidad and Tobago culture is not really conducive to these 'intellectual property' issues that aren't really a problem for the average 'Trinbagonian' - they are a problem for software manufacturers. The majority of software used in Trinidad and Tobago is written by foreign companies (99% or better).
With the perspective that 'intellectual property' issues are unavoidable and constant, a local software company may be able to produce high quality software and not make much money off of the software. Most software developers and software development companies know that the money is not in the actual package itself - it's in the support. Software Life Cycles support this, simply because the largest part of the software life cycle is between the releas"
I responded, and the response I gave is below, though changed a bit so that it can stand on it's own.
'Intellectual Property' and 'Piracy', as well as other similar concepts constitute the Pandora's box of proprietary software. Much has been written of these, and for those of you who haven't been paying attention - START paying attention. The rights you save may be your own.
If all one knows is proprietary software, one may think that this is an unavoidable problem. While it's important to understand that credit should be given and copyright hono(u)red, there's more to this than meets the eye. When one looks at alternative methodologies, a rote comparison is not always possible - a control must be used.
Let's use business performance and ethics as the controls. Just for giggles. And to drive the point home, let's use a developing country - Trinidad and Tobago - as a good place to start. Let's look at ways a software company in Trinidad and Tobago can make a profit.
Trinidad and Tobago culture is not really conducive to these 'intellectual property' issues that aren't really a problem for the average 'Trinbagonian' - they are a problem for software manufacturers. The majority of software used in Trinidad and Tobago is written by foreign companies (99% or better).
With the perspective that 'intellectual property' issues are unavoidable and constant, a local software company may be able to produce high quality software and not make much money off of the software. Most software developers and software development companies know that the money is not in the actual package itself - it's in the support. Software Life Cycles support this, simply because the largest part of the software life cycle is between the releas"
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