Topic 49 Software Use in a Certain Region

　　During the period between 2003 and 2007, pirated software users declined abruptly from 5000 to 3000, while authorized users increased sharply from 4000 to more than 10,000.

　　Several reasons can account for this phenomenon. To begin with, compared with pirated software, authorized software can guarantee both high quality and good after-sale service. Apart from that, authorized software is becoming cheaper and cheaper—more and more people can afford them as a result.

　　However, there are still a number of people who buy pirated software, generally for two reasons. On one hand, they take it for granted that pirated products are cheaper than authorized ones. On the other hand, they don't realize that their behavior will do great harm to the whole software industry and national economy.