According to the latest Business Software Alliance (BSA) report, pirates cost software companies over $50 billion USD in 2009, with Asian nations accounting for a large amount of those losses.
Despite increases in anti-piracy efforts, 43 percent of all software being used on computers right now is pirated, up from 41 percent in 2008, reads the report.
Globally, losses mounted to $51.4 billion, with a whopping $16.5 billion coming from the Asia-Pacific region.
Overall, the BSA says the increase in piracy is thanks to the strong growth of PC owners in India, China and Brazil.
Victor Lim, a VP at IDC (which jointly carried out the study with the BSA) says that despite pirates software rates falling in 54 nations, it rose or stayed neutral in 57. Piracy rate in the Asia-Pacific territories was 59 percent, meaning that of of the 900 million pieces of commercial software installed in 2009, 530 million were unlicensed.
“This study makes clear that while efforts to bring down piracy levels in the Asia-Pacific are enjoying some success, dollar losses at over 16.5 billion (dollars) remain the highest in the world,” adds Jeffrey Hardee, BSA’s vice president and regional director. “This is unacceptable and there is still much to be done to engage governments, businesses and consumers on the risks and impact of software piracy.”
Some of the piracy rates for individual nations were shocking, especially in Eastern Europe were nations like Georgia, Moldova and Armenia all had over 90 percent. On the other end, the United States was the lowest on the list, at 20 percent, with Japan and Australia not far behind.
Result for: software piracy
A judge has ruled today that Matthew Miller of Delaware must pay $210,000 in damages and court costs for selling hundreds of counterfeit copies of popular software on the auction site iOffer.
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) adds that the software includes Photoshop, Office and software from Autodesk. Miller would pirate copies of the software, burn them to DVDs, and sell them to customers for about $10 USD.
Miller was caught after he agreed to sell $11,900 worth of software to an undercover agent for $45 USD.
The fine is $195,000 in damages and another $15,000 in court costs and lawyer fess. Miller must also delete all “infringing” copies of the software in “his posession.”
Jenny Blank, the BSA’s senior director of legal affairs, added: “In the course of our efforts to stop software piracy, BSA and its member companies rarely take action against individuals. We prefer to educate and inform the public about the risks and consequences of using illegal software. But there are instances when the activities of individuals are both reprehensible and blatant, requiring the BSA and its members to act swiftly and definitively.”
“This kind of piracy is arguably one of the most devious types of Internet-based piracy because it involves actual sales of unlicensed software to consumers,” says Blank. “Consumers should be aware that the majority of these ‘too-good-to-be-true’ offers originate from unscrupulous vendors. Not only are the products and services offered by these individuals often shoddy, counterfeit or downright fraudulent, but the consumer may be tricked into giving away sensitive financial and identifying information. You may think you’re saving money, but in the end, it could be far more costly.”
Result for: software piracy
According to a new annual study from the Business Software Alliance, losses related to software piracy amounted to $50 billion USD last year, an 11 percent increase from last year.
The study did note however that most of the increase was a result of the weakening U.S. dollar.
Notable members of the BSA are Microsoft, Dell, Intel and IBM.
For the United States, the number related to piracy was $9 billion USD, and the study concluded that piracy rates were among the lowest in the world, with a number around 20 percent. However, because the US dominates the software market, the losses where higher than any other one nation.
A few of the notable findings, from the report are:
* While emerging economies account for 45 percent of the global PC hardware market, they account for less than 20 percent of the PC software market. If the emerging economies’ PC software share were the same as it is for PC hardware, the software market would grow by $40 billion a year. Lowering global piracy by just one point a year would add $20 billion in stimulus to the IT industry.
* The lowest-piracy countries are the United States, Japan, New Zealand, and Luxembourg, all near 20 percent. The highest-piracy countries are Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, and Zimbabwe, all over 90 percent.
* The highest-piracy regions are Central/Eastern Europe (67 percent) and Latin America (65 percent). The lowest regions are North America (21 percent) and the European Union (35 percent).
