Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

Sony 445that has been stripped of copy protection. The BusinessSoftware Alliance estimates that 35 percent of new softwareinstalled on PCs in 2006 was obtained illegally.Although piracy can involve many forms of distributionincluding Web sites, file-sharing services (see file-sharingand P2P networks), and even software found on “bargain”PCs, the most visible form involves physical packages completewith box, CDs, and even holograms. These counterfeits,which range from crude to nearly indistinguishable,are often produced in full-scale factories. China has beena major source for many types of product counterfeiting,although the government has periodically cracked downon the practice. Counterfeiting has also flourished in suchunlikely locales as Bangladesh and Serbia.Industry groups also assert that the misuse of legitimatelypurchased software (such as running more copiesthan have been licensed) is also a form of piracy. The potentiallegal liability is enormous, so companies make rigorouspolicies involving software use and install monitoring systemsto detect or prevent licensing violations. (For theirpart, industry groups have offered large cash rewards toemployees who reveal their company’s violations.)CountermeasuresAs perhaps the largest potential victim, Microsoft has beendiligent in fighting software piracy. Recent versions of Windows,Office, and other products require that users “validate”the software, associating the license number withdetails of the system’s hardware configuration. When theuser wants to download later updates or patches, the softwarevalidation is checked. Failure of validation leads towarning messages and disabling of many features of thesoftware.Microsoft has also been active in suing alleged pirates,and educating consumers about the dangers of buyingpirated software, which include the risk of exposure toviruses, spyware, and other harmful programs. An industryantipiracy group, the Business Software Alliance, has vigorouslyinvestigated corporate software use (often with theaid of tipsters), finding violations and making companiespay fines and buy licenses in lieu of legal action.Meanwhile, growing pressure from the software industryhas led in turn to U.S. pressure on China and othercountries to go after software counterfeiting operations. Insummer 2007, a joint operation by the FBI and Chineseofficials led to the seizure of more than $500 million incounterfeit software.Critics of antipiracy efforts, such as the Electronic FrontierFoundation, argue that estimates of losses from piracyassume that every pirated copy of a program represents alost sale, ignoring the possibility that people (such as students)would not have the money to buy legitimate copies.They also point to what they consider to be heavy-handedenforcement of copyright laws and point to proposed legislationsuch as the Inducing Infringement of CopyrightsAct, which they argue would in effect outlaw all file-sharingnetworks and subject people to prison sentences for minorinfractions.Further ReadingBusiness Software Alliance. Available online. URL: http://www.bsa.org. Accessed November 18, 2007.Donoghue, Andrew. “Counting the Cost of Counterfeiting.” CNetNews, May 22, 2006. Available online. URL: http://www.news.com/Counting-the-cost-of-counterfeiting/2100-7348_3-6074831.html?tag=item. Accessed November 18, 2007.Evers, Joris. “Fighting Microsoft’s Piracy Check.:” CNet News,June 20, 2006. Available online. URL: http://www.bsa.org.Accessed November 18, 2007.Hopkins, David, Lewis T. Kontnik, and Mark T. Turnage. CounterfeitingExposed: How to Protect Your Brand and Market Share.Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2003.Plastow, Alan L. Modern Pirates: Protect Your Company from theSoftware Police. Garden City, N.Y.: Morgan James, 2006.“Protect Yourself from Piracy.” Microsoft Corporation. Availableonline. URL: http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/. AccessedNovember 18, 2007.SonySony Corporation (NYSE symbol: SNE) is the electronicsbusiness unit of Sony Group, a large Japanese multinationalcompany that plays a leading role in worldwide electronics,games, and entertainment media (movies and music), introducingand shaping many now-familiar standards.The company traces its origin to a radio repair shopstarted by Masaru Ibuka in a bombed-out building inTokyo in 1945. He was soon joined by Akio Morita, andthe men started an electronics company whose name translatesin English to Tokyo Telecommunications EngineeringCorporation. They started by building tape recorders, butin the early 1950s the two entrepreneurs were among theearliest to realize the potential of the transistor, marketingtransistor radios starting in 1956. The devices essentiallyestablished the modern consumer electronics field, perfectlyfitting with a new music fad among American teenagers—rockand roll.With their marketing success, Ibuka and Morita realizedthat they needed a simple, catchy name that would appealto Americans and other non-Japanese customers. In 1958they came up with Sony. Although the name did not exist inany language (and thus could be made proprietary), “Sony”evokes English words such as “sound” and “sonic.” (It alsoresembled a Japanese slang phrase “sony-sony,” for somethinglike what we would call “geeks” or “nerds” today.)Influence on Media and ComputingOne of Sony’s most enduring impacts has been its establishmentof standards for media and storage technologies. Thecompany was not always successful: A famous also-ran wasits Betamax videotape format, which lost out to VHS. However,the company’s successful consumer products haveincluded the following:• Trinitron tubes for televisions and computer monitors(no longer sold in the United States)• Walkman portable music player (1979)• 3.5″ floppy disk (1983), which flourished until thelater 1990s