Survey Reveals That More Than Half of PC Users are Pirates

News
By Douglas Perry
published

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has found that 57 percent of the world's PC users freely admit that they are stealing software. Well, sort of.

That number is, of course, the average number of a global survey with national averages that vary greatly by region.

According to the BSA, developing countries have far greater piracy rates than developed nations. For example, the piracy rate in the U.S. is just 19 percent, Germany 26 percent and Australia 23 percent. In contrast, India revealed a piracy rate of 63 percent, China 77 percent, and Kenya 78 percent.

The commercial value of the software pirated in the U.S., however, is $9.8 billion and exceeds all other countries. China's staggering piracy rate result in a commercial pirated software value of $8.9 billion.

The aggregate value of pirated software that was in use in 2011 is estimated at $63.4 billion, up from $58.8 billion in 2010.

Douglas Perry
69 Comments Comment from the forums
  • amdfangirl
    Depends what you call piracy. AFACT knocked on my door because I used p2p to "pirate" Linux and other free software causing "millions of dollars worth of IP damage".

    ;)
    Reply
  • china is a developing country??
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    I pity those who still think that they can stop the pirating of software...
    Reply
  • posteris
    i imagine someone making 10$ a month, buying licensed software, not to mention hardware price
    Reply
  • pmerritt
    it's really too bad that so many are stealing because this is a major reason why PC gaming has declined.
    Reply
  • phishy714
    YYYAAAARRR!
    Reply
  • joytech22
    I admit I do pirate, but if I like the content I will pay for it and if I don't, I will delete it.

    I used to pirate big time without even paying for content I liked, but I thought to myself it's just more sensible to pay for content I like.
    All software and movies I have are purchased in either hard copy or some digital form from legitimate sites. (Like iTunes etc..)
    Reply
  • ohim
    And yet software companies and record houses bathe in millions of dollars ... that`s to show how overprice they sell their stuff.
    Reply
  • jdamon113
    Yet all these software companies cant wait to give China , India all the jobs. Why would they change they are rewarded for there actions.
    Reply
  • psychobob
    With such a high piracy rate, it's hard to imagine how the software industry can thrive at all and make billions. Perhaps the Business Software Alliance just needs justify to its funding and existence with dubious surveys.
    Reply