41% of all PC software is pirated : (

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE54B0UD20090512?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews



Software piracy grew last year, accounting for 41 percent of all PC software installed, with losses to companies estimated at $53 billion, the Business Software Alliance said on Tuesday.

Worldwide piracy rates rose from 38 percent of software in business and home computers in 2007 to 41 percent in 2008 despite successes in fighting piracy in China and Russia, according to the study done by market researcher IDC for the

BSA.

Global PC software sales grew 14 percent last year to $88 billion.

While there was progress on piracy in some countries, with rates down in roughly half of the countries surveyed and flat in one-third, overall "the dollar figure is actually up," said Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the BSA.

Holleyman said that while U.S. piracy was about 20 percent of the total market, the lowest in the world, it was a major problem because more software was sold in the United States than anywhere else.

Holleyman said much of those losses came from small businesses that use unlicensed copies of popular software programs. They might have 50 PCs but only pay for rights to run the software on 25 of those machines. "The U.S. has the highest single dollar loss," he said.

China's piracy rate had dropped from 90 percent of all software in 2004 to 80 percent last year while Russia's piracy rate dropped five percentage points in the past year to 68 percent, the study found.

The progress in China came because the government decided to use only legitimate software, because Internet service providers cooperated in taking pirates off the Internet when asked, and because of other steps, said Holleyman.

The study found seven countries with piracy rates of 90 percent or higher: Georgia, Bangladesh, Armenia, Zimbabwe, Sri Landa, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

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PC piracy is not a problem, right?

I really wonder how they get these metrics. I mean if they can actually count how many pirates there are you think they could just catch em

I really wonder how they get these metrics. I mean if they can actually count how many pirates there are you think they could just catch em

DaBrainz

A simple search... And they can't look at their personal info and in most cases, even their IP address... but they know how many people are uploading data and how many are downloading data...

41% seems ridiculously high... i doubt it is that much. Did they account for the free software? that is the only way i see it being 41%....SF_KiLLaMaN

I think they mean like 41% of available software has been pirated... So for example... if there were 100 PC programs... 41 of them would have been pirated at one time or another... I don't think they mean like a raw number of pirating... Like 1,000,000 people have crysis so 410,000 of them pirated it...

this is worldwide though...in Asia and South America almost all software is pirated...its really not surprising.

$53 billion loss? whoaaaa just wait for some hermit to say "buh buh 360 has piracy too"....sorry this is just bad for devs, i dont even know why devs keep making games on pc, they need to move to consoles so they can make more cash

I'm not suprised at all, it's so easy for people to do.

It would be so funny if they developed a way to bypass the IP Blockers and thngs like that... What would they do with all the pirates? I mean I personally know 20+ people who have pirated software, and only 10 of them use computers often (for work)... So even people are aren't techies are doing it... if they were able to catch them... how would they prosecute millions of people? That would be one effing large class action suit in court... what would it be called lol? "World v Entertainment Industry"...?

What does this have to do with system wars ? :?

LOL at Armenia being at or above 90 percent. Sorry, it's the inner Armenian in me. Anywho, I believe this deals with ALL software, not just gaming. And let's be honest - how many of you truly bought Photoshop, Vista, or Office? If I wasn't in the industry, you wouldn't see me spending 600 dollars on a photo editing software just so I can get a cool looking sig on some forum.DonPerian

I bought my copy of Vista... and my school gave me my Photoshop CS4... So I AM COOL >.>

Piracy and sales are increasing. Everybody's happy. I don't see the problem.

Full of fail, you cannot accurately measure piracy, measuring torrent usage is not a accurate measurement.

Plus if piracy was anywhere near that high we would be seeing a impact on profitability of games on the platform, developers like EA are reporting increased profits.

Of course forget logic, que consolite bashing.

Well I can believe that lol

Piracy and sales are increasing. Everybody's happy. I don't see the problem.

Jackboot343

Because Piracy is rising and sales are falling... who told you they were increasing?

[QUOTE="Jackboot343"]

Piracy and sales are increasing. Everybody's happy. I don't see the problem.

Squeets

Because Piracy is rising and sales are falling... who told you they were increasing?

Global PC software sales grew 14 percent last year to $88 billion.

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[QUOTE="Squeets"]

[QUOTE="Jackboot343"]

Piracy and sales are increasing. Everybody's happy. I don't see the problem.

Jackboot343

Because Piracy is rising and sales are falling... who told you they were increasing?

Global PC software sales grew 14 percent last year to $88 billion.

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1) More than likely due to increase in the number of PCs... 2) Link? 3) Companies are reporting crazy amounts of piracy of their products, like Crytec, who are estimating that there are 20 pirates playing for every 1 buyer playing... Also stated in this IGN article on the subject of Crysis Warhead...

"IGN: There's just a perception...

Cevat Yerli: Well, the perception is of course like this because equally rated games on multiple platforms sell three to four times more. That's the reality. And this wouldn't be like this if it was not for piracy to some degree. I don't think we would sell three to four times more. If piracy were to a certain degree reduced, I think we would double the sales, and doubling the sales would be a drastic impact for us to say, "Yes, we remain completely PC exclusive." If we could double the sales, then hell yeah, we would be platform exclusive because we love the PC platform. But I have my doubts that the PC industry will retain that level, and we will see what happens with Warhead."

[QUOTE="Jackboot343"]

[QUOTE="Squeets"]

Because Piracy is rising and sales are falling... who told you they were increasing?

Squeets

Global PC software sales grew 14 percent last year to $88 billion.

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2) Link?

It's in the OP...you did read it right? :oops:

"It's not based on any particular data point. We just wanted to choose a really large number." not from this article.

So they point to countries that are piss poor to say "wow look at those piraty graphs."
I'm sorry but if those people can't afford Your games, stopping piracy won't help You nor them.

KungfuKitten

If they can't afford a $50 PC game then why do they have a $1000 computer to play it on?

$53 billion loss? whoaaaa just wait for some hermit to say "buh buh 360 has piracy too"....sorry this is just bad for devs, i dont even know why devs keep making games on pc, they need to move to consoles so they can make more cash

sikanderahmed

Are you high or something? These "loss" numbers always baffled me. The correct way to phrase this is "$53 billion of *potential revenue* lost". Note that I'm not condoning piracy in any way, I just think it is wrong to assume each pirated copy would be bought if people weren't unable to pirate. Also the $53 billion number doesn't only include games, I would guess the biggest share goes to Windows and Office.

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

So they point to countries that are piss poor to say "wow look at those piraty graphs."
I'm sorry but if those people can't afford Your games, stopping piracy won't help You nor them.

Squeets

If they can't afford a $50 PC game then why do they have a $1000 computer to play it on?

You're not looking at this the correct way. Most of software piracy happens in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, where the average income is probably several times lower than in the US. So for them a $50 game is like a $500 game to you! Again, I'm not condoning piracy, but imagine what would happen if every game in the US cost $500, I'm pretty sure piracy would be rampant there as well.

[QUOTE="Squeets"]

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

So they point to countries that are piss poor to say "wow look at those piraty graphs."
I'm sorry but if those people can't afford Your games, stopping piracy won't help You nor them.

nunovlopes

If they can't afford a $50 PC game then why do they have a $1000 computer to play it on?

You're not looking at this the correct way. Most of software piracy happens in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, where the average income is probably several times lower than in the US. So for them a $50 game is like a $500 game to you! Again, I'm not condoning piracy, but imagine what would happen if every game in the US cost $500, I'm pretty sure piracy would be rampant there as well.

[QUOTE="Squeets"]

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

So they point to countries that are piss poor to say "wow look at those piraty graphs."
I'm sorry but if those people can't afford Your games, stopping piracy won't help You nor them.

nunovlopes

If they can't afford a $50 PC game then why do they have a $1000 computer to play it on?

You're not looking at this the correct way. Most of software piracy happens in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, where the average income is probably several times lower than in the US. So for them a $50 game is like a $500 game to you! Again, I'm not condoning piracy, but imagine what would happen if every game in the US cost $500, I'm pretty sure piracy would be rampant there as well.

This. In fact this combined with what you said about the $1000 computer explain it all. By the way I have seen many say South America but in fact in America the big piracy starts as soon you cross a Rio Grande (Bravo) Bridge.

And let's be frank here, who the hell has not pirated any PC software?Kicker_of_Cans

[QUOTE="nunovlopes"]

[QUOTE="Squeets"]

If they can't afford a $50 PC game then why do they have a $1000 computer to play it on?

You're not looking at this the correct way. Most of software piracy happens in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, where the average income is probably several times lower than in the US. So for them a $50 game is like a $500 game to you! Again, I'm not condoning piracy, but imagine what would happen if every game in the US cost $500, I'm pretty sure piracy would be rampant there as well.

This. In fact this combined with what you said about the $1000 computer explain it all. By the way I have seen many say South America but in fact in America the big piracy starts as soon you cross a Rio Grande (Bravo) Bridge.

[QUOTE="Kicker_of_Cans"]And let's be frank here, who the hell has not pirated any PC software?AlexSays

the whole topic is so damn worn out that people should give it a rest already.mr_mozilla

Tell PC pirates to stop stealing, then it won't be a big deal anymore.

It is not just about money for many people it is a cultural thing. I know people who make 70,000$ a year who say that the only game they play is "a free game". For many people outside of North America, Japan, and Western Europe piracy is a normal thing. Even with better pricing structures it will be difficult to convince many people to pay for software. Even digital distribution will falter in places such as these because the governments themselves will likely institute policies to force developers to provide physical copies of their software to their "disadvantaged" populace. In short, as a developer other than someone like Blizzard who has a good system of ensuring patronage in their games like wow, I would focus my development towards consoles.dinb

Obviously it's a cultural thing but it's roots are in the economical situation. I think the biggest problem with piracy is when it starts occuring in first world countries becuase thats where the real money is at. Usually the only companies that are affected by piracy in third world countries are big ones like Microsoft, that actually sell their products directly in said countries. Ofcourse with the bloom of the internet this will change because theorically even small companies will be selling their products online to everyone everywhere. About the thing about focusing on consoles, in my country the PS2 is the hot new product to have, and it is like three times cheaper than a PC without a gaming GPU, and obviously with all the games pirated.

$53 billion loss? whoaaaa just wait for some hermit to say "buh buh 360 has piracy too"....sorry this is just bad for devs, i dont even know why devs keep making games on pc, they need to move to consoles so they can make more cash

sikanderahmed

[QUOTE="Squeets"]

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

So they point to countries that are piss poor to say "wow look at those piraty graphs."
I'm sorry but if those people can't afford Your games, stopping piracy won't help You nor them.

nunovlopes

If they can't afford a $50 PC game then why do they have a $1000 computer to play it on?

You're not looking at this the correct way. Most of software piracy happens in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, where the average income is probably several times lower than in the US. So for them a $50 game is like a $500 game to you! Again, I'm not condoning piracy, but imagine what would happen if every game in the US cost $500, I'm pretty sure piracy would be rampant there as well.

yup that sounds about right i think theres problems on both sides of the fence because man some of the software is so expensive that people who want to fly striaght have a hard time doing so oh well i only see the problem getting worse as time goes on hackers are getting better.

[QUOTE="mr_mozilla"]the whole topic is so damn worn out that people should give it a rest already.Emaldon117

Tell PC pirates to stop stealing, then it won't be a big deal anymore.

Yeah, it is sad. I remember the good old days of playing games without a disc or any DRM. Shame the Internet exploded... It's killing music, movies and games.

Oh well... Can only hope they can survive and give the ligit people a reason to keep buying. I can't stand games that limit my installs.