The worldwide PC software piracy rate rose for the second year in a row, from 38 percent to 41 percent, according to a new study from the Business Software Alliance. The BSA attributed the trend to fast-growing PC shipments in high-piracy countries such as China and India, as well as stalled progress in the U.S.
Worldwide losses grew 11 percent to $53 billion, although half of that growth was the result of the falling U.S. dollar. Setting aside the impact of exchange rates, losses grew by five percent to $50.2 billion. This compares to a legitimate PC software market of $88 billion in 2008, and a personal computer market of $244 billion.
Fighting Software Pirates
Beyond the U.S., the lowest piracy countries are Japan, New Zealand, and Luxembourg, all near 20 percent. The highest piracy countries are Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia and Zimbabwe, all more than 90 percent.
“We are continuing to make progress against PC software piracy in many countries, which helps people working in the U.S.-led global software industry. That’s the good news,” said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman. “The bad news is that PC software piracy remains so prevalent in the United States and all over the world. It undermines local IT service firms, gives illegal software users an unfair advantage in business, and spreads security risks. We should not and cannot tolerate a $9 billion hit on the software industry at a time of economic stress.”
According to the BSA, the impacts of software piracy go well beyond the global software industry, impacting jobs, cybercrime and tax revenues. For every $1 of software sold in a country, the BSA noted, there is another $3 to $4 of revenue for local IT service and distribution firms. On the job front, a 2008 IDC study predicted that lowering PC software piracy by…