RSSStudy: One Third of Software Pirated
By Ed Oswald | Published May 19, 2005, 1:43 PM
According to a recent survey, more than one-third of all software installed on personal computers is pirated. 35 percent of installed software was pirated in 2004, down one percent from last year. However, the survey found that losses from software increased, from $29 to $33 billion.
The survey was released by the Business Software Alliance, a group of leading software developers. However, the research was completed by independent firm IDC.
"Worldwide, one out of every three copies of software in use today has been obtained illegally," said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman. "These losses have a profound economic impact in countries around the world. Every copy of software used without proper licensing costs tax revenue, jobs, and growth opportunities for burgeoning software markets."
IDC said that much of the reason why losses from software piracy increased were due to a falling U.S. dollar and six-percent growth in the PC industry.
The survey found that piracy in 37 countries decreased, while another 34 increased. 16 countries saw the same level of piracy year over year. In 24 of the 87 countries studied, piracy rates eclipsed 75 percent. Of the top five countries, three of them were in Asia, with Vietnam having the highest at 92 percent.
The United States saw the lowest amount of piracy -- 21 percent.
John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC gave some insight as to why piracy rates in some countries are so high. "Piracy is still most prevalent in countries and regions where the software market is growing as personal computing becomes more integral to work and daily life," Gantz explained.
Here's why these numbers are NOT true. I wish more people would realize this instead of just making up some fake numbers.
If I were a person using an illegal copy of Microsoft Office, here's what I would do. They call me and tell me that I cannot run MS Office because it's illegal. I either have to remove it or pay for it. Guess what. I remove it because I am not going to pay for it. Do you know how many people would do this?
So in reality they wouldn't get any more money....just fewer people using it.
What morons.
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|No offense, but I am sure that isn't quite how they do it. I am sure that most people wouldn't even tell them that they have an illegal copy.
None the less, I am wondering how they arrived at their figures. Statistics are the most widely misrepresented and interpreted numbers. You can just about deduct anything from them to impress someone else.
I too sure hope people are wiser than this, though we are not impressed.
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|I think the point was that if you are running illegal software, you are probably not going to pay for it, even if something attempts to prevent you from using it illegally.
I think in most cases, this is true, but not when it comes to the operating system. You need your operating system to do anything else. If your illegal OS became very crippled, you'd be forced to buy it or look for alternatives.
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|I totally agree... just like music..they haven't lost anything from me because I wouldn't buy it to begin with.
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|how did they come about with these figures... noone polled MY computer for pirated software :)noone sent me a poll. and since noone ionj the area but myself is knowledgable in windows, linux, be and OS/2, noone but me is qualified to work on my computer so some shop didnt report use statistics to anyone on my computer :)...
anyone else participate in the poll?
I say it's time to call the bullsh*tters at their lies and make them produce proof of their obviously ficticious claims
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|While there is a hell of a lot of piracy, the effects on actual dollar value sales are nowhere near what they claim - if anything, it's in the two figure MILLIONS of dollars per year.
Taking into account the two kinds of piracy that actually account for people that would buy the software if they didn't have a pirated version, as opposed to every single copy of software that's pirated by people not willing to pay in the first place, and would use a free solution if they were forced to not use pirated software.
The 2 kinds of people who would pay?
1. People who buy a computer with an illegal preinstall of applications, who weren't aware in the first place
2. People who borrow disks of friends because it's easy, but aren't opposed to paying when it comes down to it...
The people who would never pay, or can't afford to pay? Companies benefit from them pirating software, because it increases the market share and dominance of their product. They gain this without collecting fees that they would never have collected anyways - so no revenue is lost, but market share is bolstered.
Another thing they don't account for is the fact that much of the pirated software out there is never actually used - I've known people who have application suites on their computers that they NEVER use - it's installed, but might as well not be... same with games... if you benefit from having software on your computer, by all means pay for it...
The last time I cleaned out my computer, I removed MS Office completely, and the only thing I miss are the icons... If it weren't for software I use daily that requires Windows, I'd remove that too, despite the fact I paid for a full licence.
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|There are some rather good technologies to really make software piracy minimal, but they're not used widely.
They're not used by the big software houses because they, despite all denial, want a degree of piracy. It *benefits* them. How? It helps to entrench their format making them a defacto standard.
I assure you that formats like doc, xls, psd, pdf, dwg, etc. wouldn't have become standards had people not transferred the software from work to home and vice versa.
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|"There are some rather good technologies to really make software piracy minimal, but they're not used widely."
Let's hear them.
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|Starforce.
It's one of the newest forms of copy protection available. From what I've read, everyone hates it because it messes with your IDE configuration. But it's unstoppable as of yet. (literally. so far nobody has been able to break the protection of the latest version.)
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|it is easy and can be done. I hate to say, that I have done it and successfully. There are always holes. You cannot plug them all. Most of them are the human factor. If every way could be accounted and every method taken, it would be a nightmare for the company.
I agree that there is a lot of piracy that goes on and it is considered practical if not essential to the market as "GeorgeSantayana" states. It is like giving away a copy free for someone to use. They just didn't have to give it out which costs them money. It was obtained by a friend or whomever. The individual gets an opportunity to use it free, and deciding whether or not they want to actually buy it. Even telling friends about it if they like it which ads to their marketing goals.
They are doing some things to restrict it more, but it is still easy to move around this too. IMO . . . there is no such thing as 100% security or no piracy. There will always be a way in or around. It is a matter of finding it. It isn't just IDE that they factor in on the current protection. It is way more than that. You can change a NIC or graphic card and be asked to reregister.
The human factor is the best way to do it. On a large scale, we are too trusting.
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|The only true way to prevent piracy would have to be hardware-based, ALL COPY PROTECTION SOFTWARE CAN BE BYPASSED, PERIOD. Some is much harder than others to pirate, but software is software. The problem with hardware based protection is that so many people would loose their "dongle" or whatever was required for the software to work, and forcing hardware configurations is really hard (not impossible--easy to bypass though) with any Microsoft OS other than XP with SP2, and well...yeah there's still some veterans who refuse to use SP2. Another problem is that you can patch the program itself to think the dongle is plugged in even when it isn't, though a crack would have to be made for every specific version of a program. Also remember the US has the lowest amount of those polled (it's not the lowest--Peru? Ethiopia? Zimbabwie? Doubt all 238 countries were polled).
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|"These losses have a profound economic impact in countries around the world. Every copy of software used without proper licensing costs tax revenue, jobs, and growth opportunities for burgeoning software markets."
this is crap - if someone who pirates a piece of software NEVER WOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE then how can it cost jobs and growth?
they include money that wouldnt be there anyways in thier inflated stats..
i'm all for buying a good movie or good software
i have no problem supporting developers..
but i think the BSA and the MPAA are out for thier own and nobody else and they use bogus claims like this to make people think there is this huge problem and it's costing people thier livelyhood..
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|"The survey was released by the Business Software Alliance"
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As if this survey isn't stacked/fixed in the first place being put out by the very company spreading their lies. What a joke.
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|"The survey was released by the Business Software Alliance, a group of leading software developers. However, the research was completed by independent firm IDC."
Wish people would read the article first...
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|There are two sides to the argument that I always found funny. Businesses say that they have to raise the prices to beat out piracy and consumers say that if they would lower prices they would pirate less. Who's going to make the first move?
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|Well we waited at leat 3.5 years on consumers, hello vendors!
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|With the exception of the openSource software that I run, the rest is 100% pirated.
I also make very good dough by helping small businesses with their gray market software.
I'm actually surprised that the US piracy rate is so low.
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|The fact you can openly admit this is shameful!
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|How does it cost jobs? I'm sure it makes even more than it costs by making companies emply people to investigate and implement technologies that prevent piracy from happening.
Open Source Forever! - then there is no piracy.
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|Don't be silly. The BSA doesnt believe in the big picture. Their statistics are measured by claiming that every single piece of software you download for free you'd be willing to pay full price. Have a pirated version of Windows XP? Would you pay 350$ for a retail version? I wouldn't. BSA and their figures say I would.
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|It's not the US that is losing all those taxes and whatever, so it doesn't really matter. These companies have tax shelters set up in these other countries specifically so they don't have topay taxes. So cry me a river. I do feel that people should be properly compensated for their work, but I take issue with the fact that the US catches so much flack and we are the lowest offender. I can almost guarantee you that if you look at the list for who gets pirated the most it's the companies with near monopolies. Simple fix: Lower the price!!!
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|for a country with supposedly world's highest average income this is a crying shame...with one stroke of his "mighty" pen, mr Gates can eliminate all piracy in 99% of the "third" world countries. first supply them with the need for computers, than kill them with outrageous prices for the software. way to go ! and then to remark "proudly": the united states ranks lowest on the list of piracy...yuk...pure puke...
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|For a very insightful comment on this issue, I would point anyone to the daily columns of John Dvorak who debunks the myths, lies and deceptions of supposed monumental losses from rampant software piracy around the globe.
As a small business owner, I was getting threatening letters from the "alliance" telemarketers three years ago trying to shake me down for licenses fees on legit software that my law office purchased and I still have the sales receipts.
I find very little value in the software alliance's statistics without some verifiable concrete cross-references to back themselves up.
Joel H. Wolff
Attorney at Law
Joel@Bergstedtwolff.com
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|that is a bulls*** figure.. Maybe ten percent. Just the people who steal software. Steal a lot.
Linux is so great. It makes the issues not matter at all :). Lol
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|How did they come up with these numbers you ask ?
They have one of those round sphere lotto machines and they drew out 7 numbers. Bonus was 35, its how they got their percentage.
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