The Internet is become a growing haven for consumer deadbeats.
In a survey released Thursday, a corporate software trade group found that more than 81 percent of those computer users who download commercial software from the Internet fail to pay for all the copies of the programs they receive.
Last week, an Internet research company found that about half a million copies of free illegal copies of movies illegally posted on the Internet have been pass about.
And Jupiter Media Metrix, a company that tracks Internet usage, has found that more than two-thirds of US consumers will not pay for any services online, be it e-mail, instant messaging or other benefits.
"There's nothing online right now that is compelling enough for people to pay for right now," said Jupiter senior analyst David Card. "People have grown accustomed to getting things for free online."
The surveys show consumers are increasing their resistance to pay for services and content on the Internet, even though many companies are trying to end the "free ride."
During the Internet boon of the mid-1990s, heavily funded companies, the so-called dot-coms, decided to forego profits in exchange for snaring market share. That created a banquet of free e-mail services, online storage services and free data services such as rich financial databases found on Yahoo and other Web sites.
Then, of course, there was Napster, the ill-fated company that let some 70 million people freely swap copyrighted rock and roll and other music titles over the Internet. Napster was shutdown by the record industry litigation last summer.
Two years ago, the dot-com industry began to implode, along with their freebie offerings. But consumers, now accustomed to equating the word "free" with "online" have failed to listen to the remaining dot-com companies pleas for revenues.
"People believe that when they pay their monthly Internet fee, they're then entitled," said Card.
The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a group representing the software publishing industry, proclaimed a "disturbing trend in what it labeled" online theft after finding that 81 percent of those who downloaded software never paid for all the copies used. The survey also found that 51 percent of downloaders never paid anything for the software. The survey, conducted for the BSA by the Ipsos Public Affairs company, tallied 1,025 Internet users to come to its conclusions.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS