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Study finds global piracy rates hold fast at 35%, Russian and Chinese scallawags belay a bit
The fourth annual Global Piracy Study, conducted by tech market research company IDC on behalf of the Business Software Alliance, was released this morning. The researchers estimate that again this year, 35% of all software on PCs worldwide is pirated. This is despite claimed advances in legitimate sales in traditional problem areas like China, where the government's decision to license operating systems and other software is uses on state-owned PCs has resulted in a 10% drop in three years (a drop from 92% to 82%, but still). Other developing markets, though, seem to be taking up the slack. Nearly one third of countries surveyed has piracy rates topping 75%, and while developing markets account for fully 30% of global PC sales, they only account for 10% of software revenue.
Perhaps the most surprising finding was that, despite the world's lowest piracy rate--21%--the estimated value of pirated software in the US is the highest on the list. IDC estimates that the US accounts for US$7.3bn in piracy losses. That raises a red flag in my mind: are we really buying (or not) that much more software than other countries, or are we getting ripped off paying for software that sells for less elsewhere?
Even taken with the XXL grain of salt BSA funding requires, these are big numbers.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gardiner Westbound said 12:42PM on 5-15-2007
Like the recording and movie industries, the software industry manipulates its numbers to suit the agenda du jour.
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Cletus Cook said 2:17PM on 5-15-2007
In any economic situation, the more money that the general populace makes is reflected in how much they pay for things. A case in point, for $3000 USD a month one could live like a king in the Philippines.
HuntinHippy
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Peter said 7:21PM on 5-15-2007
"for $3000 USD a month one could live like a king in the Philippines" - Yes, but there are no jobs in the Philippines that pay that much so it's kind of a moot point.
A better comparison is how many hours you need to work to purchase something. Here in the US a DVD might cost a few hour's pay. In the Philippines it might cost a week's pay (or maybe more), which is many times more expensive, even though the actual cost might be less in comparable dollars.
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