Study finds software piracy growing

[WoW]

By Diane Bartz
Reuters
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 1:08 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Software piracy grew last year, accounting for 41 percent of all PC software installed, with losses to companies estimated at $53 billion, the Business Software Alliance said on Tuesday.

Worldwide piracy rates rose from 38 percent of software in business and home computers in 2007 to 41 percent in 2008 despite successes in fighting piracy in China and Russia, according to the study done by market researcher IDC for the

BSA.

Global PC software sales grew 14 percent last year to $88 billion.

While there was progress on piracy in some countries, with rates down in roughly half of the countries surveyed and flat in one-third, overall "the dollar figure is actually up," said Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the BSA.

Holleyman said that while U.S. piracy was about 20 percent of the total market, the lowest in the world, it was a major problem because more software was sold in the United States than anywhere else.

Holleyman said much of those losses came from small businesses that use unlicensed copies of popular software programs. They might have 50 PCs but only pay for rights to run the software on 25 of those machines. "The U.S. has the highest single dollar loss," he said.

China's piracy rate had dropped from 90 percent of all software in 2004 to 80 percent last year while Russia's piracy rate dropped five percentage points in the past year to 68 percent, the study found.

The progress in China came because the government decided to use only legitimate software, because Internet service providers cooperated in taking pirates off the Internet when asked, and because of other steps, said Holleyman.

The study found seven countries with piracy rates of 90 percent or higher: Georgia, Bangladesh, Armenia, Zimbabwe, Sri Landa, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

 

[porchrat]

according to the study done by market researcher IDC for the

BSA.

I would love to know how these studies are done.

Perhaps some sort of questionnaire?
Q: "Are you a pirate?"
A: "YARRRRRRGH!!!"
*ticks checkbox*

 

[MrOoze]

I would love to know how these studies are done.

Perhaps some sort of questionnaire?
Q: "Are you a pirate?"
A: "YARRRRRRGH!!!"
*ticks checkbox*

HAHAHA well done

 

[LCBXX]

I'm not exactly sure what message this article means to convey. I mean, one of the reasons piracy exists, is because people who pirate software fail to see the value linked to the price charged.

Software (and many many other things) would be dirt-cheap, if the companies producing it weren't a bunch of profit-hungry hyenas. Instead of making software cheaper, millions are spent trying to curb piracy, whilst the honest consumer fits the bill.

 

[MyWorld]

Hang on...

The progress in China came because the government decided to use only legitimate software,

The government was using pirate software? No wonder China is the capital of all knock offs!

I would not mind them being more strict wrt software, it will only drive people to seek alternatives.

What gets me is that they claim as a definite fact that companies LOST $50 odd billion. How exactly do they get this figure? That is like McDonalds saying they lost $100 million because other companies sell beef patties in stores and people make their own hamburgers now.

They estimate it must be so much $$$, but when push comes to shove they are going to loose much much more by driving people to alternative software.

 

[davemc]

The cost of "software" makes "try before you buy" absolutely essential, and I don't see a single one of these companies putting their money where their mouth is and offering to let us try the final finished product in it's full featured glory in our specific environment before we are forced to buy it.

And, no, I will not pay for it and then try it and then return it for a refund, simply because; (say) there are 10 products that could match my requirements, then purchasing all 10 to try them, and then wait for a refund is simply not feasible from a cash flow perspective.

The LEAST the software industry could offer is "satisfaction guarantee" or your money back.

e.g. I want to see Microsoft provide the actual final version of Windows 7 (Pick whichever sub-version you want) to try before you buy, or at least to offer me a 100% refund if I don't like the product after installing it. An I do mean the FINAL version, not the uber-fast pre-release stuff.

Until then, I am FORCED to test out products that could benefit me using any other manner available BEFORE I buy them, simply because I the alternative route puts me in possession of software that does not match my requirement with no recourse available.

 

[vodacom3g]

The cost of "software" makes "try before you buy" absolutely essential, and I don't see a single one of these companies putting their money where their mouth is and offering to let us try the final finished product in it's full featured glory in our specific environment before we are forced to buy it.

And, no, I will not pay for it and then try it and then return it for a refund, simply because; (say) there are 10 products that could match my requirements, then purchasing all 10 to try them, and then wait for a refund is simply not feasible from a cash flow perspective.

The LEAST the software industry could offer is "satisfaction guarantee" or your money back.

e.g. I want to see Microsoft provide the actual final version of Windows 7 (Pick whichever sub-version you want) to try before you buy, or at least to offer me a 100% refund if I don't like the product after installing it. An I do mean the FINAL version, not the uber-fast pre-release stuff.

Until then, I am FORCED to test out products that could benefit me using any other manner available BEFORE I buy them, simply because I the alternative route puts me in possession of software that does not match my requirement with no recourse available.

The bulk of the software I've downloaded had a try-before-you-buy period. Typically around 30 days.

 

[LazyLion]

I wonder if there is another way to change the business model? Not all software is hugely expensive, but there are a few serious offenders. Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop are some examples. One copy is not too expensive on one computer for a business, but the moment you have to install for twenty employees you start running into serious cash flow problems. I have copies of both that I have downloaded, but I only use them occasionally, not enough to justify purchasing both outright. The software that I do use on a daily basis I have registered, because it was reasonable and because I want to support those developers.

But having said all of that, there must be a better way to do this. Microsoft's software for rent is an idea in the right direction. Personally, I am wary of downloading pirated software. You have no idea what little hangers on you are getting with all the cracks and keygens. It is bad enough for the games, but for the software it becomes a security nightmare.