Half of world's PCs use pirated software: report
A man uses the internet in Beijing. Almost half of personal computer users around the world get their software illegally, with China's massive market the worst culprit, a Business Software Alliance (BSA) survey showed.
Almost half of personal computer users around the world get their software illegally, with China's massive market the worst culprit, a report claimed Wednesday.
A Business Software Alliance (BSA) survey showed 47 percent of PC users globally believe there is nothing wrong with using unauthorised copies of software programs.
This includes buying a single licence for multiple installations or downloading programs from peer-to-peer networks, BSA said.
The survey of 15,000 PC users in 32 countries showed Chinese users have the most relaxed attitude to piracy.
As many as 86 percent of computer users in the country acquire their software illegally most or all of the time, the survey showed.
"The survey makes it clear that the global software piracy epidemic is spreading fastest in China, which is now the worlds biggest market for new PCs," said BSA president and chief executive Robert Holleyman.
The Washington-based BSA is an industry group that works for copyright protection and counts among its members some of the world's biggest technology companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Symantec and Adobe.
Pirated software installations cost the industry nearly $59 billion globally last year, a BSA report said in May.
It said in terms of value, China was the world's second-largest culprit behind the US, installing $7.78 billion of stolen programs last year.
The commercial value of pirate computer software used in the US was estimated at $9.5 billion, the BSA said in the May report.
(c) 2011 AFP
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Sep 07, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (9)
Sep 07, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
Sep 07, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Micro-transactions on the other hand are the way to go imo. When you get to play a game that is free but has lots of stuff to buy for a relatively cheap price people make a lot of purchases. When you use the rationale, "I just won't buy a coffee today." you can see how easy it is to spend hundreds of dollars over not too long a time (a year or two perhaps).
Of course there are problems with that but there needs to be a good balance between initial cost and average monthly purchases.
Using visual studio 2010 for example, that program is $1069, for the *normal* version. The ultimate version is $15 939.
Ya gotta go against human nature of immidiate reward and think about how you can make the most amount of money in a reasonable amount oftime
Sep 08, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
In many cases the privately held (pirated)software is too expensive when just used once or twice a year (casualy).
Why not give the software for free with a limited number of uses per year, or charge per use (compared to recharging a prepaid cell phone) at a reasonable price?
OK there are trail versions limited for one month or something like that, but that is not the same. That is just useful if you really want to test a SW and you are thinking about using the SW frequently.
Sep 08, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (6)
Sep 08, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
Plus the fact that selling software (lisences) is like printing money. You can always print more, because it costs you next to nothing once you've done the initial work, and you can just keep doing it. Same as in the music business.
Make once, duplicate forever.
Why should people pay in to a scheme like that?
Sep 09, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
The use of the term "stolen" (instead of "copied") reveals the propaganda nature of the article.
Another indication is the avoidance of mentioning linux (or other free OSs).
Sep 20, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Stupid... what incentive is there to make quality software then?