Software sold by market leaders tend to be primary purchases for regular consumers. Brand comfort is important but so too is affordability, especially when pirate copies are available for free. Some find a middle ground with purchases of discounted activation keys but, as a new Microsoft lawsuit shows, that can amount to copyright infringement for buyers and sellers alike.

Having spent billions on development and marketing over decades, companies like Microsoft dominate important sections of the software market.

As a result, in some business and educational environments use of Microsoft software is effectively mandatory, leaving consumers with little room to consider alternatives or negotiate a discount.

Pirate sites are always an option but many consumers feel that a genuine product bought at a discounted price is a safer and more honest option. What some don’t know is that through the actions of others, they may be paying to access unlicensed software that is no more legal than a download from The Pirate Bay.

The rest of this article can be read on TorrentFreak.com

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