Date: 04 Nov 92 18:32:54 EST
>From: Gordon Meyer <72307.1502@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject: File 6--These Computer Abusers Cost us nearly $100 Billion

((MODERATOR'S NOTE: Software piracy, according to the SPA, represents
up to $4 billion in losses. "Hacker" crime constitutes a few billion
more, according to some law enforcment assessments.  Insider computer
abuse constitutes at least $15-20 billion more, in the eyes of others.
Add them all up, and the costs fall far short of the most
devastatingly dangerous computer abuser of all:  THE COMMON PC USER!
Perhaps it's time to legislate against this scourge of society,
organize federal dragnets in a national crackdown, and prosecute those
responsible for the following crimes to the fullest extent of the
law)).
+++++++

DOES THIS HELP PUT THE SOCIAL COSTS OF THE CU IN PERSPECTIVE?

Newsweek reports that approximately $97 Billion of the US gross
domestic product is being 'futzed away' by workers spending too much
time 'polishing' their work on PC's.  SBT, a California software firm,
has found that playing around with fancy fonts, over elaborate
spreadsheets, overpolishing material with snazzy graphics, and endless
rounds of 'just one more re-write' are among the chief time wasters.
(From: Communications of the ACM. Nov '92 p. 13)

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