One Third of All Software Pirated

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A new study from the BSA (Business Software Alliance) paints a troubling picture for the software industry. Although the global rate of piracy decreased by an entire percent from 2003 to 2004, the total financial losses increased by $4 billion. In total, nearly one third of all software currently used around the globe is pirated.

While one third represents the average global rate of piracy, the rate in some countries is considerably higher than others. For example, outside of Western Europe and North America where weak anti-piracy laws exist, piracy rates are staggering. The rate of piracy in Vietnam is 92%, Ukraine 91%, China 90%, Zimbabwe 90% and Indonesia 87%.

The United States had the lowest rate of piracy (21%), however it had the greatest financial losses ($6.6 billion.) This total is nearly double the financial losses in China, where the software market is considerable lower despite the greater rate of piracy.

In addition, another key finding of the study found that more money was spent ($59 billion) on commercial PC software in 2004 - up from $51 billion in 2003. However, when pirated software was taken into account, over $90 billion was actually installed in 2004 (up from $80 billion in 2003.) This equates to $33 billion in losses, a number exacerbated by the growth of the PC market and the weak dollar against other currencies.

With the proliferation of broad band and easy to use file-sharing/P2P networks, software piracy is easily achieved. However physical piracy remains the mainstay of the software piracy world, as exact digital copies of Microsoft Office 2005 sell at a considerable discount from the genuine article.

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Source: Slyck

that number is bound to increase in the future

Stupid, they keep saying losses, but they never had the money in the first place.

There's no guarantee people would pay for the same software they'd pirated, they might as well have gone for an alternative, or done without entirely.

Ya amazing the countries with the lowerst standard of living are the worst . "DUH" They can't afford it. You know ,I would justify a tax from the rich to pay for the poor. Bill has tryed to do that with software allowances to countries like India and the like . But its a watered down version. But a good start. :)

I see a big flaw to the whole article. How can they know what % of software is pirated?

Any acurate method of counting would have to have people willing to tell that they use the pirated stuff. I don't see all of them willing to provide such information.

I suppose their statistics are based on a guess or a hunch. :unsure:

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Originally Posted by Virtualbody1234

I see a big flaw to the whole article. How can they know what % of software is pirated?

Any acurate method of counting would have to have people willing to tell that they use the pirated stuff. I don't see all of them willing to provide such information.

I suppose their statistics are based on a guess or a hunch. :unsure:

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I am, myself, assuming that they are referring to pirated softwares that somehow, in some form, go through the process of registration with their respective home centers and server machines.

I am certain that the number of un-registered pirated software is considerably higher. Yet, like you say, any method they so devise to calculate those percentages, are dubiously flawed.

I think, like the MPAA and RIAA try so deviously to perpetuate, these numbers are merely meant for shock and scare value.

As usual, software makers are caught between a rock and a hard place...particularly Microsoft.

MS was planning ( and still may be) to release a "third world" version of XP, one stripped of all the goodies and meant to sell at a much lower price.
Naturally, no one wants it.

Linux is supposed to be the viable alternative but guess what, no one wants that either.

Turns out, even poor third world users want the eye-candy and the gaming capabilities of the full version and they're willing to go pirate to get them.

What's a billionaire to do?

Windows XP, third world edition.

Yeah, it has a ring to it :dry:



Couldn't they start selling win2k really cheap or something, I'd pay for that.
Hell, I like win2k pro better than XP.

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Originally Posted by clocker

What's a billionaire to do?

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Lower the price of Windows XP. It's at the end of it's cycle anyway.

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Originally Posted by Virtualbody1234

Lower the price of Windows XP. It's at the end of it's cycle anyway.

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VB , I just saw a comercial on tv for Win XP last nite during the CSI show. Thought thats wierd . New O/S soon. :lol:

I keep seeing these xp commercials too.. :shifty:

@vb, why doesn that matter. windows98 is still over $100 at futureshop. :blink:

There are things I would have never considered buying in a million years, if I had not pirated it first.

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Originally Posted by rossco

@vb, why doesn that matter. windows98 is still over $100 at futureshop. :blink:

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Yeah I know. And then they wonder why stuff gets pirated. :wacko:

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Originally Posted by Virtualbody1234

Yeah I know. And then they wonder why stuff gets pirated. :wacko:

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Oh, I think they KNOW why stuff gets pirated.
What they have failed to grasp is the willingness of folks to do it.

Even our most straitlaced, upstanding customers don't see why they should have to continue buying a product they paid for once...."Oh no, you see I already have XP on this other machine...why don't you just transfer it for me?"
"What do you mean, you CAN"T? That's ridiculous!"

Furthermore, lots of business software, I'm thinking specifically of the diagnostic software that auto mechanics use, is designed to work on Win98 and they are really stuck when an old PC dies and they can't just walk in and replace it.

I would guess that the estimate is pretty accurate.
Close to one third of our customer's PCs are running pirated versions of software ("Oh, my son came over and installed XP...what is a "license"? He never said anything about a PID...") and we get to be the bad guys and try to enforce MS's policies.