The Business Software Alliance has
determined that the worldwide piracy rate for commercial software, which
consists of software applications that are written and sold as packages by
vendors, actually dropped 10 percent last year.
This drop was attributed in part to better awareness, better defined
copyright laws, and more specific and severe punishments for perpetrators.
But BSA said that all could be for naught if online piracy is not curbed.
The Washington, D.C.-based group recently concluded its eight annual survey
on global software piracy in which it found that pilfered software decreased
in 2002 to 39 percent, down from a high of 49 percent in 1994, when BSA
began tallying such totals. It is the first decline since 1999, when an
all-time low of 36 percent was reported.
The U.S. experienced an all-time piracy rate low of 23 percent said BSA,
which credited improved education as part of the reason for the lower
figures. Every country except Zimbabwe has reduced its rate of piracy since
1994. However, there is a flipside to that coin. Though there were fewer
charted cases of stolen applications, worldwide dollar losses due to piracy
actually increased from $10.97 billion in 2001 to $13.08 billion in 2002, a
mark-up of 19 percent. BSA said this can be attributed to higher software
prices overall.
Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of BSA, attributed the trend to the
industry’s success in implementing educational programs, working with
governments to strengthen copyright laws and emphasizing good software asset
management businesses practices that contribute to a safe and legal digital
world.
Bob Kruger, BSA’s vice president of enforcement, said BSA believes the
reasons for the improvements lie in greatly improved copyright laws overseas
in regions where piracy has traditionally run rampant.
“There has traditionally not been adequate protection for intellectual
property,” Kruger told internetnews.com. “There have been changes
made in many middle regimes to protect software from being copied in the
first place before its was even released. It was very difficult to put in
place because Eastern European companies because, for a long time, there
existed the perception that protecting software from piracy was just doing
the bidding of the U.S. to help them make more money. But what they didn’t
understand and what they learned later was that protecting IP at the local
level can be good for their economy. There are very valuable economic
benefits to be derived locally in IP protection. It creates jobs and helps
grow the local industry.”
Kruger said that these regions, including Eastern and Western Europe,
eventually became more interested in bilateral organizations and signed
treaties to amend laws to provide at least a basic level or protection. This
broader, universal adoption of copyright laws, which the U.S. has had in
place but is continuing to make more specific, has enabled law and policy
makers to write and eventually mete out specific punishments for software
pirates. This deterrence, Kruger said, also plays a part in the software
piracy decrease.
Holleyman also acknowledged that while instances of stolen copies of
commercial software such as, say, Microsoft’s Windows operating system, are
fewer than they were in the past, piracy on the Internet has spiraled out of
control. Holleyman is referring to such segments as illegal file-sharing,
first through the notorious Napster system, and currently through such
services as Kazaa. He said continued, improved education may stem this tide.
Kruger said the Internet piracy problem is so serious that it may not matter
what physical copies of software may be counterfeited and exchanged because
so much software will be pilfered online.
“There is a lot of work to be done still in curbing counterfeit software,
which is often copied in the workplace,” Kruger said. “The truth is that so
long as Internet piracy is growing more and more, all of the good progress
made in stopping commercial software piracy could be threatened by an
inability to control Net-based distribution of software. We are definitely
devoting more of our resources to combating piracy of the Internet than we
have on the past.”
Laura DiDio, senior analyst of Application Infrastructure and Software Platforms at the Yankee Group, said the the amount of illegal material that is easily obtained via
the Internet is certainly a factor in the decline of commercial software piracy. Buti there plenty more. To be sure, the BSA and better defined laws have put the fear of punishment into potential crooks.
DiDio listed reasons why she thinks software piracy has declined:
“1. Software vendors and the BSA have stepped up their policing efforts. 2. The penalties — in addition to the true-up costs if you’re caught — can be very stiff. Additionally, once you’ve been identified as having significant non-compliance issues, the business lessens its’ chances of getting the best discounts and licensing deals. The “Scarlet Letter” will follow your firm long after the software non-compliance fees and fines have been paid. 3. The product upgrade cycles are lengthening. Fully 50% of corporate customers keep their main desktop and server OS, databases and productivity
software packages for 3 1/2 years and longer. 4. Finally, if the BSA catches a company pirating software AND the software that it has pirated was directly used as the main application in the company’s business, they can shut you down. One such example, was a
Washington, D.C. court reporting firm that had been found to have illegal court reporting software. The BSA took them to court, won, and the company went out of business. While this happens rarely, it CAN and DOES happen.”
A consumer-oriented group, BSA informs the public on such topics as software
management and copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce.
Its member companies include some of the largest software businesses in the
world, including Apple, Macromedia, Microsoft, Network Associates and
Symantec.
The BSA study determines the worldwide piracy rates of business software
applications, the associated dollar losses and trends in 85 countries.
As for piracy rates in other regions:
- Middle East/Africa: This region is the most improved region with a 31
point reduction in piracy, from 80% in 1994 to 49% in 2002 - Latin America: Second only to the Middle East/Africa region in
improvement, the Latin America regional piracy rate declined 23 points
between 1994 and 2002 - In Western Europe, the piracy rate dipped 17 points, from 52% to 35%,
the third best of all the regions. The piracy rate in Eastern Europe dropped
14 points, from 85% in 1994 to 71% in 2002 - Asia/Pacific: The piracy rate in the Asia/Pacific region improved 13
points, from 68% in 1994 to 55% in 2002 - North America: North America has the lowest piracy rate in the world,
and it declined from 32% in 1994 to 24% in 2002
A breakdown of piracy rates by country is here
.
