Cut piracy, boost Canadian jobs
p2pnet news | Freedom:- All Canada has to do to create more than 5,000 new jobs is slash software piracy by 10%.
So says the BSA.
The acronym stands for Bull Shit Association.
Well, it doesn’t really. But it could, and probably should. And don’t just take our word for it.
Back in 2005, of a BSA (Business Software Alliance) shock-horror report compiled by the International Data Corporation (IDC), is it BS or “just BS?” – pondered Britain’s authoritative The Economist, referring to claims by the BSA that losses down to counterfeits had increased from $29 billion to $33 billion.
In The economic benefits of low-rent PC software piracy, “Reducing Canada’s 34% software piracy rate by 10 percentage points would have a ‘multiplier effect’ and increase those economic benefits, generating approximately 5,200 additional jobs, $875 million in tax revenues and $2.7 billion in spending in the local IT sector over the next four years,” says the BS A.
“According to the BSA global piracy study in 2007, Canada remains among the top 20 countries with the lowest software piracy rates worldwide, behind Australia (29 per cent), Netherlands (29 per cent), Norway (29 per cent) and Israel (32 per cent). Canada also lags behind the U.S., where the software piracy rate remains unchanged at 21 per cent.”
Of the 2005 ‘study,’ “It sounds too bad to be true,” said The Economist, “but, then, it might not be true.”
The association’s figures rely on sample data that may not be representative, assumptions about the average amount of software on PCs and, for some countries, guesses rather than hard data,” it said, going on:
Moreover, the figures are presented in an exaggerated way by the BSA and International Data Corporation (IDC), a research firm that conducts the study. They dubiously presume that each piece of software pirated equals a direct loss of revenue to software firms.
To derive its piracy rate, IDC estimates the average amount of software that is installed on a PC per country, using data from surveys, interviews and other studies. That figure is then reduced by the known quantity of software sold per country-a calculation in which IDC specialises. The result: a (supposed) amount of piracy per country. Multiplying that figure by the revenue from legitimate sales thus yields the retail value of the unpaid-for software. This, IDC and BSA claim, equals the amount of lost revenue.
This latest study was “commissioned by [the] BSA” and “conducted independently by International Data Corporation (IDC),” the implication being that the one had nothing to do with the other.
The BS A’s Canadian face used to be called the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft, but these days it’s just plain old BS A Canada.
“CAAST is also in bed with the movie and music industry which is in turn entirely dominated by cartels which control the vast bulk of output and which are striving to gain complete dominance of the internet,” said p2pnet in 2005, going on:
Now CAAST is making the outrageous claim that half of Canada’s university and college students are hard-core thieves who are “stealing” music, movies and computer programs.
Its new study shows, “a finding that disturbs software makers who are alarmed by the prevalence of counterfeiters on campuses nationwide,” says the Globe & Mail.
And, “What’s worse, the study by the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft found that almost two-thirds of computer science students, who are preparing for careers in programming and software development, pirate software, compared with 46 per cent of students in other fields of study,” it says.
It’s hard to decide which is worse – that a publication of the G&M’s stature is seriously presenting this deliberately sensational, and unsupported, material as though it’s factual and comes from a credible source, or that CAAST is making such claims in the first place.
Now CAAST is making the outrageous claim that half of Canada’s university and college students are hard-core thieves who are “stealing” music, movies and computer programs.
Its new study shows, “a finding that disturbs software makers who are alarmed by the prevalence of counterfeiters on campuses nationwide,” says the Globe & Mail.
And, “What’s worse, the study by the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft found that almost two-thirds of computer science students, who are preparing for careers in programming and software development, pirate software, compared with 46 per cent of students in other fields of study,” it says.
It’s hard to decide which is worse – that a publication of the G&M’s stature is seriously presenting this deliberately sensational, and unsupported, material as though it’s factual and comes from a credible source, or that CAAST is making such claims in the first place.
In 2008, the BSA, “encourages governments that want to enjoy the economic benefits of reducing software piracy to take the following steps:
1. Update national copyright laws to implement World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) obligations;
2. Create strong enforcement mechanisms, as required by the World Trade Organization (WTO), including tough anti-piracy laws;
3. Dedicate significant government resources to the problem, including national IP enforcement units, cross-border cooperation, and more training for local officers;
4. Improve public education and awareness; and
5. Lead by example by requiring the public sector to use only legitimately licensed software.
Someone should tell CAAST it’s no longer CAAST. At 8:35 am Pacific today, it was still displaying that instead of BS A Canada.
Don’t bother to stay tuned.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
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