41% of all PC software is pirated

[NJ5]

The Business Software Alliance lobby strikes again.

BSA annual software piracy study

BSA has been heavily criticized about the yearly study it publishes about copyright infringement of software. This study, produced in collaboration with the International Data Corporation, tries to estimate the level of copyright infringement of software in different countries, as well as the resulting losses for the software industry.^[5] The methodology consists in estimating the number of computers shipped in a given country, as well as the average quantity of software installed on these machines. Separately, an estimation of the quantity of legitimate software sold in the country is produced, and the difference between the total amount of software estimated to be in use in the country and the estimation of software sold is used as an indicator of the rate of unauthorized copy. A estimation of the total amount lost is produced by multiplying the estimator number of unauthorized copies by the price of the original software.

These estimates have been criticized as being exaggerated and many flaws of the methodology have been pointed out; some of the figures seem to be guesses rather than solid data, and some data may not be representative. The calculation of the losses, in particular, assumes that each piece of copied software represents a direct loss of sale for software companies, a very contested assumption.^[6] The study's assumptions have been described as being unworthy of a first year student of statistics.^[7] InAustralia, a draft government report has described these statistics as a "self-serving hyperbole", "unverified and epistemologically unreliable".^[8]

These criticisms have been aggravated by the use of the BSA study to lobby for new, stricter copyright laws and to seek tougher penalties for people convicted of copyright infringement on software; in Britain, a judge cited the data provided by the BSA to justify a lengthy prison sentence for two people convicted of copyright infringement.^[6]

Other studies published by the BSA have been criticised^[9]. For example, a study claiming that software patents are of the same importance to small and medium enterprises and large companies, have also been described as misleading and as using a flawed methodology, but the results have nevertheless been quoted by politicians.^[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Software_Alliance#BSA_annual_software_piracy_study