Topic: One-Third Of All Software Installed In 2006 Was Pirated.

[mistybear]

                                       One-Third Of All Software Installed In 2006 Was Pirated

Global piracy losses increased in 2006 by 15% over 2005. Of the 102 countries covered in this year's study, piracy rates dropped moderately in 62 countries, but went up in 13 countries.

By Sharon Gaudin
InformationWeek
May 15, 2007 10:54 AM

About a third of the software installed on personal computers around the globe last year was pirated, according to a study from IDC.

That pirated software amounts to a worldwide loss of $40 billion, noted the industry research firm, which conducted the fourth annual global PC software piracy study for the Business Software Alliance. The study also showed that for every $2 of software bought legitimately, $1 was obtained illegally.

Global piracy losses increased in 2006 by more than $5 billion -- or 15% -- over 2005. Of the 102 countries covered in this year's study, piracy rates dropped moderately in 62 countries, but went up in 13 countries.

In more than half of the 102 countries studied, the piracy rate exceeded 60%. In about one-third of the countries, the piracy rate exceeded 75%.

The good news is that some previously poor performers have done a better job of cracking down on software piracy. The study showed that there was progress in a number of emerging markets, most notably in China, where the piracy rate dropped 10% in three years, and in Russia, where piracy fell 7% over the same three years.

"The good news is we are making progress, however, we still have a lot of work to do to reduce unacceptable levels of piracy," said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman, in a written statement. "These significant losses translate into negative impacts on IT industry employment, revenues, and financial resources available for future innovation and the development of new technologies."

The 10% improvement in China's piracy rate -- going from 92% in 2003 to 82% in 2006 -- adds up to a decline in lost revenue to the software industry of $864 million, according to IDC. Analysts reported that the reduction in the country's piracy rate is the result of government efforts to increase the use of legitimate software within its own departments, vendor arrangements with PC suppliers to use legitimate software, and increasing industry and government education and enforcement efforts.

The legitimate software market in China grew to nearly $1.2 billion in 2006, an increase of 88% over 2005. Since 2003, the legitimate software market in China has grown over 358%, according to IDC.

Even much smaller piracy rates can add up to huge losses, the report showed. For example, while the U.S. had the lowest piracy rate (21%) of all the countries studied, it also had the greatest total loss at $7.3 billion. China saw the second highest losses at $5.4 billion with a piracy rate of 82%, followed by France with losses of $2.7 billion and a piracy rate of 45%.

Over the next four years, IDC analysts expect businesses and consumers worldwide to spend $350 billion on PC software. If the current trends continue, the study predicts that more than $180 billion worth of PC software will be pirated during that same period.

http://www.informationweek.com/software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199600293

[sam]

i think that sounds like a fair enough number.. but where the hell do they get their numbers from..... it sounds like it is all down to how much money companies expect to make.

[mistybear]

Maybe the illegal download sites are monitored as to how many people are downloading software?  

[Sandra]

I cant understand why people use pirated software, after all its not as if its expensive to buy 
Unless you live in the UK of course and have to pay in £ sterling what most other people have to pay in US$ (currently the $ to £ is around 2:1 making everything cost twice as much in the UK as in the USA).

Maybe if software, audio CDs and Film DVDs were more reasonably and evenly priced around the world then piracy would decrease dramatically 

Maybe they track the number of trial downloads that people get.
The percentage of people who then pay for the full version would be easily measured and they could probably safely assume that around 50% of the rest found a crack, patch or a serial for it 

[sam]

that could be a good way of doing it sandra...

OPEN SOURCE the world... its all free then... :-D

[Simon]

I cant understand why people use pirated software, after all its not as if its expensive to buy 
Unless you live in the UK of course and have to pay in £ sterling what most other people have to pay in US$ (currently the $ to £ is around 2:1 making everything cost twice as much in the UK as in the USA).

Which is precisely why many people import DVDs from the US, as even with the shipping costs, they still work out cheaper than UK versions, often have better features, and some are released before we even get the film at the cinema in the UK.

As for software, I quite agree about the price of some of it.  How can M$ justify the cost of Office, for example, when Open Office does mostly the same thing, for free?

[sam]

i dont know how they can simon.. but its probably down to the fact that your are taught ms office at school and so it penetrates the workplace... so they buy it there.. and people then get it bundled into their pc world machines...