Unlicensed software use down in Canada
p2pnet view P2P:- The proportion of unlicensed software on computers in Canada fell last year to 29% from 32%, says the BSA (Business Software Alliance).
And that “represents a commercial value of $943 million US, according to this seventh annual global software-piracy study”, says the Canwest News Service.
But, “the overall rate of software piracy rose to 43 per cent from 41 per cent as a result of more illegal activity in countries such as China, India and Brazil”, says the story adding:
“The worldwide commercial value of pirated software last year was $51.4 billion US.”
Presumably, that stat came from the study.
However, “Each year”, observed Mike Masnick on TechDirt recently, ” companies (especially the BSA) like to throw out marginally-coherent data ‘proving’ the supposedly-huge impact piracy has on the economy, national security or employment. The claims are quickly debunked as nonsense — yet the same claims return year after year, and often get cited by U.S. politicians as gospel.”
As p2pnet has pointed out once or twice, in BSA or just BS, “It sounds too bad to be true; but, then, it might not be true”, said Britain’s The Economist, going on:
“Up to 35% of all PC software installed in 2004 was pirated, resulting in a staggering $33 billion loss to the industry, according to an annual study released this week by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a trade association and lobby group.”
But, it continued >>>
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. “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.
Meanwhile, “The lowest rates of software piracy were found in the United States (20 per cent), Japan (21 per cent) and Luxembourg (21 per cent), while the highest rates were in Georgia, Zimbabwe and Moldova, which were all at 90 per cent or more”, said Canwest.
[The pic onthe right is from Ask a Ninja.]
(Cheers, Marc)
..
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Canwest News Service – Software piracy down in Canada, up worldwide, May 11, 2010
TechDirt – GAO Concludes Piracy Stats Are Usually Junk, File Sharing Can Help Sales, April 13, 2010
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May 12th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Conveniently the study ignores the fact that the highest rates of piracy are from countries who’s people do not have the funds to pay for the, sometimes severely, overpriced software.
May 12th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Yet another puff piece from the BullShit Association. It goes without saying to take this misinformation with 3 cups of salt.
May 12th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Another BS story.
Why people would want to use “unlicensed software” while they have everything they need with open source?
You really should have a look at Ubuntu 10 Lucid.
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu. You can test it without installation from a CD Rom.
OMG! This thing beat OSX! I am not kiding!
May 12th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
If you look at the study’s methodolody (pirated = installed – sold), the conclusion is that all open-source software, or even all software sold by companies that are not members of BSA is PIRATED.
Nowhere they say that the amount of installed software includes software by BSA members.
May 12th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
@RW ^^ Good find! I wonder if the RIAA/MPAA are using the same tactics to bullshit the politicians? Most likely.
May 12th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
“You really should have a look at Ubuntu 10 Lucid.”
I keep trying Ubuntu every time a new version comes out, but the learning curve always overwhelms me. For the most part this entails getting hardware to work properly, the command line, and editing config files. Finding replacement software, which I’ll undoubtedly have to learn from scratch, is also a huge burden. For example I forced myself to use The Gimp for several months, but in the end I went back to what I knew best. Not only is finding something within ones own comfort level difficult, but the overall number of choices tend to be much more limited too. If one Windows program doesn’t do what you want or work right, simply try another from the pool.
Don’t get me wrong though, I love Ubuntu and everything open source. I just can’t visualize myself ever being completely free of Windows even if I did choose Linux as my preferred OS of choice. You know the old saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. A decade or so ago, when I was far more of an enthusiastic nerd, I may have stuck it out just for fun. Learning is one of the few things in life I’m actually good at, so long as the subject is something I enjoy. These days I’m just happy if things work the way their supposed to without me having to troubleshoot every five minutes. It’s why I’m still using a ten year old OS on a PC I built five years ago. Well that and the fact money is so very very tight these days (Jon understands I’m sure).
May 13th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
“but the learning curve always overwhelms me”
Oh come on! It is easier to find your way with Ubuntu than on OSX!
Frankly compare to this Window 7 itself look like a gas production factory! No Offense!
It takes only five to 10 minutes to get familiar with the thingy. You need only to click on few buttons to find out where everything is.
I bet you that even someone not familiar with computer will become familiar with it within an hour.
The version 10 lucid is gorgeous and significantly faster than the previous version already pretty fast.
Try it without install from the DVD/ROM. The thingy is pretty fast even when running from the CD/DVD ROM.
If you install it on your HD it is totally zooming even on a slow system.
I installed the thing on an old Athlon 32 1ghz with 1gb of ram and a PATA HD 100GB.
Play music, play movies do anything really fast.
You really have to give a serious look at this.
No wonder Job is worry. This thing is free.
May 14th, 2010 at 12:46 am
Sure, they just pulled the numbers out of their ass.
But then they’ll polish (even gold-plate) that turd, and pass it around for everyone to worship.