http://www.argentinepost.com/2009/05
The term software piracy means the unauthorized duplication, distribution, and downloading of computer programs and applications (Globerman, 1988). Software piracy is a global problem which has caused approximately $8 billion in losses to US alone (Business Software Alliance, 2007).
There are many reasons why software piracy is posing such a big problem for companies all over the world:
• It directly reduces the revenues and profits of legitimate companies.
• It reduces the incentive for companies to invest in R&D and innovation.
• The law abiding customer has to suffer the effects of software piracy which is increased prices of software to cover losses incurred due to piracy.
Software piracy has increased because of accelerated growth of new software users in emerging/developing markets, lack of enforcement and awareness in these markets and increase in availability of bogus software through the internet and peer-to-peer networks.
Balsamiq Company Blog.mht
The picture to the right shows the software buyer/pirate spectrum. We can see a diverse spectrum that includes individuals who will never spend money on software, to those who always pay for what they use. The picture clearly indicates how difficult the problem of combating piracy is.
The software industry has tried different strategies such as using product and serial keys, DRM (digital rights management) and open source license. None of these approaches have proved to be realistic/ successful in combating piracy. I believe that a better approach to curtailing piracy is to rely on people’s honesty rather than focus on stopping them from copying software. Shareware is a unique approach where the publishers encourage users to give copies of software to friends and colleagues. The program’s author requests users to pay a small fee if they like the program and use it regularly.
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“Software piracy is a global problem which has caused approximately $8 billion in losses to US alone (Business Software Alliance, 2007).”
How does the BSA come to these numbers, are they peer reviewed or accurate?
According to BSA’s official website one of BSA’s Public policy states that, “BSA solicits and receives thousands of reports of alleged software piracy each year from end users, resellers, law enforcement, member companies, and affiliate associations.” This is how they come up with the numbers mentioned in the blog. BSA conducts the study with a reputed research firm IDC and is quoted by many sources namely NYtimes and reuters.
However, there have been complaints about whether these numbers are correct. According to the article “Business Software Alliance Dirty Tricks Update” by James E. Gaskin, BSA “bullies small companies that lose paper work or are victimized by angry employees who destroy the single piece of evidence that BSA considers acceptable”. I am not sure what impact these will have on the overall numbers.