Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

This week's series on pirated software may have surprised (and possibly spooked) some readers, and that is unfortunate. The printing industry relies on the reproduction of copyrighted materials, such as books, magazines, manuscripts, and other items, for the bulk of its shipments. That is, what the industry has as its core business is making copies of intellectual property owned by other people.

There is a basic industry understanding, though, that fonts and other elements, as well as the content used to produce printed work, are protected intellectual property and need to be managed carefully.

Software is intellectual property as well, and that's the point. The software that we use deserves protection. For printing businesses, it is silly to get caught with pirated software that is used for production. "Skimping" on production software is not advisable, especially when these packages are now the de facto industry standard. It would be silly to have all the copies of Adobe Photoshop licensed and then find yourself in litigation over some "extra" copies of Microsoft Word or Excel. This is all the more reason to be aware of what your exact software needs are and match the products you purchase to the needs.

Economic forces sometimes produce unintended consequences. The more aggressive software producers become about protecting their products, the more they can alienate casual users, thus creating greater interest in open source products. The growth of Linux and the interest in office products like OpenOffice (cross-platform free office suite, works on PC, Mac, Unix, at www.openoffice.org, and a new version just out this week) is evidence of this. And if OpenOffice meets your needs for business work, then you may not need protected products such as Microsoft Office.

In the long run, though, it is in the industry's best interests to have a diverse base of software suppliers. While industry standards are important, it is equally important to know that some suppliers have a better understanding of shop floor pressures than others. And it is clear that when it comes to legalities, the understanding of shop floor pressures isn't in the vocabulary of the "industry leaders'" legal departments and their fiduciaries. This approach actually limits their marketplace and can create resentment against a brand if not handled well. It also makes trying high-priced new products more difficult because there is no casual way to do so.

It's not like the old days when someone would suggest, "Try a box of our film on your next shift in the platemaking department," and a test could proceed with little disruption with a tech rep there to assist in the process. Software is a bit more complex than that. The fact that company sales people are nowhere to be found and much of this software is bought online or through mail or telephone ordering seems to encourage piracy-like activities. "If no sales rep visits, no one will know what we're doing," seems to be the thought among some people.

Cooler marketing heads have sometimes prevailed in this environment, and most software companies have made multi-seat licensing more attractive, more reasonable, and easier to arrange. So there are options, but it is critical to deal with the problem of managing software ownership, while still being on the lookout for alternatives.

In a related industry, the computer-based movie production sector, Adobe announced that it will no longer be supporting Mac versions of its software. Linux has grown rather dramatically in that industry. While the Mac never really got a foothold in that business, this is a sign that marketplace pressures can create unexpected (and unintended) consequences. Linux? Open source software? Used in high intensity graphic applications? Who woulda thunk it?

Gee, what other industries have high intensity applications that we might be aware of? Hmmmmmm......