Software pirates: To jail or not to jail?

A software pirate was today sentenced to 15 months in prison for selling counterfeit Adobe, Macromedia and Microsoft products.

This is great news for the Business Software Alliance, who considered even getting the case to the sentencing stage a victory, after an investigation which took them three years.

However, it's not such great news for Bilal Khan, the pirate, who was whisked away to the category A Belmarsh Prison immediately after sentencing.

Should these individuals really be imprisoned? Are custodial sentences the way to go? Is it about time we took a hard line on piracy and used stiff sentencing as a deterrent? It's an issue which throws up dozens of questions and contentious issues.

Theft is theft but there are those who argue that 'white collar criminals' are being betrayed by a system which locks them up with murderers and rapists. But then there's also that old saying 'If you can't do the time...'

After all, people who commit crimes of this magnitude - and Khan was producing prolific amounts of illegal software - are aware they are breaking the law. They are getting rich on the proceeds of crime and they take a chance with getting caught, weighing up the pros and cons, and hoping not to become one of the latter.

But Microsoft is rich enough say others. Surely this is a victimless crime, assuming nobody sheds too many tears about the richest man in the world missing out on a few more dollars?

Unfortunately in the same way supermarket prices are set to accommodate losses from shoplifting, those of us who are paying for software licences are paying for those who don't. Costs are passed on to the consumers and we are all victims of the pirates.

And underlying this - love them or hate them - Microsoft's intellectual property is being abused, as are its many allies and rivals in the software industry. It is akin to somebody breaking in to your office and stealing your property. You wouldn't tolerate it, why should they?

Some will claim this has been going on too long. It's about time the courts handed out sentences to deter these criminals who still think the law will be kind to them in the event of the authorities even taking the charge seriously enough to investigate.

The handing out of stiffer, custodial sentences will send out a message to those pirates who think they can breeze through life getting fat on the spoils of piracy.

But isn't this a waste of tax-payers' money - putting non-dangerous felons in prison? These are not harmful people who need to be kept under lock and key. What about a banning order restricting their access to computers under the threat of a suspended sentence?

There are so many questions and it's an issue which is likely to divide us all. Email your reaction to editorial@silicon.com .