Logical Reasoning

PT13 · S4 · Q2 The company that produces XYZ

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The company that produces XYZ, a computer spreadsheet program, estimates that millions of illegally reproduced copies of XYZ are being used.

GIVEN THAT

There is a company wide effort to boost sales

AND THAT

Illegally pirated copies of XYZ software would have represented millions in sales, had they been legally bought

WHY IS IT THAT

The company isn't taking legal action against the people who have an illegally pirated copy of the software?

EVALUATE

We need to figure out why this company isn't going after people with pirated copies of the software. Seemingly, they could boost sales of XYZ by cracking down on people who illegally pirate the software.

Punishing those people wouldn't itself boost sales, but presumably it would be a deterrent to others, and so someone who was considering buying vs. pirating the software might think, .

Maybe the company doesn't trust that punishing the people with illegal copies would actually have a deterrent effect. Maybe they think future customers will think "pirated copy vs. nothing" rather than "pirated copy vs. purchase a copy". Maybe they think future customers would never hear of these prosecutions and so those prosecutions couldn't have a deterrent effect.

Maybe the cost of pursuing legal action would be more than the future sales brought in by more people buying legal copies (and so it would be a net loss of company money).

Goal

Let's find a story for why the company isn't trying to legally punish the people who have pirated copies.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain why the company has not taken available legal measures?

XYZ is very difficult to
No Impact
This isn't providing a story for why the company is choosing not to legally prosecute people who DID illegally copy the software. We can't say, "Oh, they're choosing not to prosecute the people who illegally copied it because it was hard to illegally copy it ... so they deserve to have a pirated copy for their hard work?"
6% picked this
The legal measures that the
Opposite
This makes us even more confused why the company isn't taking legal action. It establishes that these legal measures ARE available and have been before XYZ was even on the market.
9% picked this
Correct
Many people who purchase a
Why this is right
The reason the company isn't cracking down on illegal pirating is because they are implicitly okay with people pirating the software. They realize that if pirating the software weren't an option, then many people would end up never buying the software. This answer is suggesting that many people who ultimately purchased the program, initially pirated it so that they could try it and decide if they like it. Since pirating the software is part of the process that led to many people purchasing XYZ, the company is worried that if they crack down on pirating, then they will actually miss out on potential sales from people who need to "try before they buy".
Skill tested: Paradox · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
74% picked this
The number of illegally reproduced
Opposite (if anything)
This makes it even more surprising that the company isn't cracking down on pirating. There are more people with PIRATED copies than with legally purchased copies!
7% picked this
The company that produces ABC,
Unclear Impact
We might interpret it different ways. It could almost work as a correct answer if we were thinking, "Maybe the company that makes XYZ is trying to seem cooler than the company that makes ABC by not cracking down on pirated copies, even though those narcs over at ABC are always busting people with illegal copies." But it could also work as an OPPOSITE answer: "If their rival thinks it's worthwhile to take legal action, then we're even more surprised that XYZ's company doesn't also think it's worthwhile to take legal action!"
4% picked this

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