The Business Software Alliance recently conducted a study into piracy, and found that it may be a bigger problem than any of us could have thought, Reuters reports. The study showed that PC piracy accounted for 41 percent of total PC software installed in 2008, a 3 percent rise from 2007 figures. However, as piracy expands, so do sales, as PC software raked in $88 billion in 2008, a whopping 14 percent increase.
Even though the US only has a 20 percent piracy rate (which is the lowest in the world), Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the BSA, says that figure is a lot worse considering we buy more software than any other country. But, as bad as the figures are, some countries are actually seeing a decline in illegal software.
Throughout two of the biggest regions for piracy (Russia and China), figures show a decline over previous years. In Russia, piracy dropped 5 points down to 68 percent in 2008, whereas in China the decline has been more gradual, dropping from figures of 90 percent in 2004 to 80 percent in 2008. Other countries remain at a 90 percent or higher piracy rate, however, including Georgia, Bangladesh, Armenia, Zimbabwe, Sri Landa, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
So, remember kids: Don't copy that floppy!
Reader Comments (61)
Posted: May 12th 2009 4:38PM Haggard said
I think the main reason is that in Russia, PC developers are aggressively competing with the pirates.
Whilst western/japanese-developed games and consoles are sold there at exorbitant prices, the small PC game studios native to Russia release their games in cheap plastic sleeves for a couple of dollars - and in a country without widespread broadband, this makes them just as viable if not more so than pirating the game.
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Whilst western/japanese-developed games and consoles are sold there at exorbitant prices, the small PC game studios native to Russia release their games in cheap plastic sleeves for a couple of dollars - and in a country without widespread broadband, this makes them just as viable if not more so than pirating the game.
Posted: May 12th 2009 4:41PM OriginalWeJo said
We need an updated anti-piracy anthem since floppy discs have went the way of the buffalo. Don't duplicate that digital video disc? Hmm. I'll keep working.
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Posted: May 12th 2009 4:51PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said
"Don't Copy That Floppy"
Lucky for me Games don't come on Floppy disk anymore....
Reply
Lucky for me Games don't come on Floppy disk anymore....
Posted: May 12th 2009 8:02PM (Unverified) said
I wish I was as tough as you obviously are based on your totally tough picture.
TUFF
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TUFF
Posted: May 12th 2009 4:52PM (Unverified) said
Personally I got tons of no-cd cracks simply because I can't be arsed to swap discs all the time. Oh and I had to download Fallout 3 and install it that way simply because the discs copy protection made it impossible for my dvd to read the disc (old dvd-drive yes, but I've never had any other problems with it).
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Posted: May 12th 2009 4:59PM (Unverified) said
How can I be a dick for wanting to play the game that I buy with the least hassle? Noone loses anything, the only one who gains anything is me that gets a more accessible game library.
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Posted: May 12th 2009 6:29PM squeehunter said
Photoshop has to count for a chunk of that 41% seeing as no one is going to pay $700 (when it's alternatives are $100 like it should be) for it. But still 41% is shameful.
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Posted: May 12th 2009 6:51PM einhanderkiller said
Photoshop costs that much because it's a professional product intended for professionals to use to make money.
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Posted: May 12th 2009 4:58PM TheWeaponeer said
@ Cosmo: actually, the main article lists the decrease in China due to the government actually using verified software and such:
"The progress in China came because the government decided to use only legitimate software, because Internet service providers cooperated in taking pirates off the Internet when asked, and because of other steps, said Holleyman."
I do not see Steam listed anywhere in that. Also, Steam's DRM is a joke, easily broken within 24 hours now. Like the guy below you said, unless is it usually a sale on Steam, you do not hear much in the way of usage in non-Valve titles.
I find the PC piracy rate increase funny as heck because of all the "DRM" and "services" crap we have been reading about in the past year. For something that is supposed to combat piracy, it seems to have made more people actually do it more. Let that one sink in for a moment...
GFWL - Steam has helped prevent piracy as much as my a$$ has helped provide cleaner air for the planet.
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"The progress in China came because the government decided to use only legitimate software, because Internet service providers cooperated in taking pirates off the Internet when asked, and because of other steps, said Holleyman."
I do not see Steam listed anywhere in that. Also, Steam's DRM is a joke, easily broken within 24 hours now. Like the guy below you said, unless is it usually a sale on Steam, you do not hear much in the way of usage in non-Valve titles.
I find the PC piracy rate increase funny as heck because of all the "DRM" and "services" crap we have been reading about in the past year. For something that is supposed to combat piracy, it seems to have made more people actually do it more. Let that one sink in for a moment...
GFWL - Steam has helped prevent piracy as much as my a$$ has helped provide cleaner air for the planet.
Posted: May 12th 2009 5:08PM Zertoss said
"Even though the US only has a 20 percent piracy rate (which is the lowest in the world), Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the BSA, says that figure is a lot worse considering we buy more software than any other country."
Am I the only one that read this as "The U.S. has the lowest software piracy rate in the world, but because we legally purchase more software than any other country as well, the piracy rate is actually really really bad."?
I also love how the example used in the article makes it sound like half of all software is pirated. To paraphrase, "20% of software in the U.S. is pirated, that's like a business buying 25 licenses and using that software on 50 machines."
That doesn't make a lick of goddamn sense. I question the veracity of this study.
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Am I the only one that read this as "The U.S. has the lowest software piracy rate in the world, but because we legally purchase more software than any other country as well, the piracy rate is actually really really bad."?
I also love how the example used in the article makes it sound like half of all software is pirated. To paraphrase, "20% of software in the U.S. is pirated, that's like a business buying 25 licenses and using that software on 50 machines."
That doesn't make a lick of goddamn sense. I question the veracity of this study.
Posted: May 12th 2009 8:25PM aughscreennames said
It means the USA has the most titles available to buy, which they should have made way more clear since its an extremely important factor to consider when looking at percents. Other countries pirate almost all of their games because they cant buy them in the first place. I doubt people in Azerbaijan can just stroll down to their local best buy and pick up a copy of Crysis, so they have to download all the popular games worth playing.
The 90% figures were just an attempt to sensationalize the story. The countries with the most titles available to buy are going to have the lowest percentage of piracy and the countries with the least amount of titles to buy (if ANY titles to buy) are going to have the highest percentage of piracy.
Its like comparing "illegal" drug use between the USA and Netherlands when the Netherlands doesnt consider marijuana illegal, the percentage will be distorted.
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The 90% figures were just an attempt to sensationalize the story. The countries with the most titles available to buy are going to have the lowest percentage of piracy and the countries with the least amount of titles to buy (if ANY titles to buy) are going to have the highest percentage of piracy.
Its like comparing "illegal" drug use between the USA and Netherlands when the Netherlands doesnt consider marijuana illegal, the percentage will be distorted.
Posted: May 12th 2009 6:22PM (Unverified) said
I don't know. I'm one of the least offensive guys on here, IMHO. Unless you're Canadian, I guess...
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Posted: May 12th 2009 7:08PM (Unverified) said
Yeah, but in the post earlier today about Atari at E3 my comment disappeared and then my ability to post comments was taken and when I got back up and running and posted in the Atari story again asking Alexander Sliwinski if I got banned and why, that comment disappeared, too. Conspiracy?
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Posted: May 12th 2009 6:24PM (Unverified) said
Buying Mirror's Edge and then beating it in one day because it's $59.99 and 5 hours long tries my patience SO HARD.
Must...resist...flashing 360 firmware.
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Must...resist...flashing 360 firmware.
Posted: May 12th 2009 5:35PM FredFredrickson said
So as long as sales are up, the industry should turn a blind eye to the rampant piracy problem?
Sounds like a bad idea to me.
Reply
Sounds like a bad idea to me.
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