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Forums - PC - 41% of all PC software is pirated

bRoKeN on 17 May 2009

Buisness Software Alliance claims market lost $53bn to illegal installations in 2008

A new study has claimed that a remarkable 41 per cent of all software installations on PC last year were based on illegally pirated copies – a figure which amounts to a market value of $53bn.

The global piracy rate in 2007 was pegged at 38 per cent, but successes in territories such as China and Russia don’t seem to have eased the problem,  Reuters reports.

The US is named as the best-behaved nation, with piracy rates of just 20 per cent whilst prime offender China saw a welcomed reduction, with illegal installations falling to 80 per cent – a reduction of ten per cent. There was also a five per cent drop in Russia.

Countries with piracy rates above 90 per cent include Georgia, Bangladesh, Armenia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

Despite the growing problem, the global PC software market still grew in 2008, reaching $88bn.



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yo_john117 on 17 May 2009

Wow that is horrible...



1200p|is|FullHD on 17 May 2009

u can't say indusry lost so and so many $, especially the people from the 90 % + countries would have NEVER bought the stuff they pirated, so i estimate the pure LOSS for the industry is 10 % at a maximum.
but i do think that hardware sales profit from piracy, but thats just my opinion



How can 720p be considered HD when it looks like ugly snow grains on my 22'' screen?

 

 

cheese_man on 17 May 2009

Good. I hope PC gaming dies. I just have a thing against it



BladeOfGod on 17 May 2009

Out of those 41% i am responsable for 30% :=D



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Million on 17 May 2009

1. In order to get that 41% figure they'd need to track ALOT of internet sources , plus all pirated PC gaming won't be online, i'm betting they are making alot of estimations to account for holes in their data. The actual figure could be alot smaller or much larger , i'm betting it's the prior.

2.People who download PC games may not have bought the game if it was up for sale or they may have downloaded it and not even used it, there's no loss to the gaming industry in these circumstances.

3.The fact that the PC market is experiencing growth would indicate that piracy isn't that rampant on the format , it's just some traditional areas of the PC market are declining in favour of MMORPG's , Social games etc.

4.It's clear the traditional pricing model of a one time cost of buying the game isnt' working , Developers are swiching to harder to pirate subscription based gaming or free ad supported gaming.


Zlejedi on 17 May 2009
yo_john117 said:
Wow that is horrible...

Except they wouldn't see all those 53 bilions anyway.

 



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FootballFan on 17 May 2009

Thats why pirated platforms shouldnt get the same support fro genuine buyers. The potential for pirating is too great for most and therefore the honest people should take a stand.



Zlejedi on 17 May 2009
FootballFan said:
Thats why pirated platforms shouldnt get the same support fro genuine buyers. The potential for pirating is too great for most and therefore the honest people should take a stand.

LoL why should anyone care about this if he buys his games honestly ?

 



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NJ5 on 17 May 2009

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

 



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