Pirates eat into UK software sales

**Glaswegian** · 05-14-2009, 02:01 PM

Pirate software on PCs in the UK is breaking new records. The use of unlicensed software last year surged to 27 percent of all software, translating to around £1.49 billion in lost sales, according to the sixth annual global IDC software piracy study.

Worldwide, software piracy climbed to a record high, making up 41 percent of all software installed on the planet, according to the IDC report released today by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The value of unlicensed and pirated software worldwide could be as high as the US$50 (£33) billion, and cost another $150 (£99.3) billion to $200 (£132.4) billion in value-add technology services, the study of 110 countries revealed.

"Much more needs to be done by the industry and the government to warn businesses and consumers of the risks associated with under-licensed software, from a legal, financial and operational point of view," said Alyna Cope, spokeswoman for the BSA UK country committee.

"Software piracy hurts our knowledge-based economy by weakening the very foundation on which it is built - respect for intellectual property and innovation."

Software piracy also hurts the wider economy, according to BSA and IDC. An IDC study released in January 2008 found that reducing software piracy by 10 percentage points over four years could generate more than £6 billion in economic growth and increase tax revenues by £1.47 billion to support local programmes and services.

British Chambers of Commerce senior policy adviser, Kevin Hoctor, said piracy threatens the digital community jobs and revenue.

"To realise the Government's Digital Britain ambition, our digital and communications industries must have the protection they need in terms of copyright and piracy," said Hoctor. "In the current economic climate the impact effective enforcement could have on employment and revenue should not be ignored".

http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...&NewsID=115805

Elkar · 05-15-2009, 12:56 PM

First off, let me state that I do not condone the piracy of software (or music or movies, etc...)

But... I am really getting sick of all these studies suggesting that pirates are costing these industries billions of dollars and forcing programmers to lose their jobs. By obsessing over piracy and focusing so much on prevention and lawsuits, these companies are driving their own costs up. This results in inflated prices and the treatment of EVERY customer as a potential criminal. And they wonder why so many people don't buy their software?

Not every pirated copy is a lost sale. Just because someone has a pirated program doesn't mean that they would have paid for it had a pirated version not been available. Most would simply have found an alternative or gone without.

Just accept the fact that piracy exists and isn't going away. Then stop believing these reports and just focus on delivering a quality product at a reasonable price. People will buy. Sure, some piracy will still happen, but it won't be "lost sales".

Just my 2 cents,
Elkar

05-14-2009, 02:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,359 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Pirates eat into UK software sales Pirate software on PCs in the UK is breaking new records. The use of unlicensed software last year surged to 27 percent of all software, translating to around £1.49 billion in lost sales, according to the sixth annual global IDC software piracy study. Worldwide, software piracy climbed to a record high, making up 41 percent of all software installed on the planet, according to the IDC report released today by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The value of unlicensed and pirated software worldwide could be as high as the US$50 (£33) billion, and cost another $150 (£99.3) billion to $200 (£132.4) billion in value-add technology services, the study of 110 countries revealed. "Much more needs to be done by the industry and the government to warn businesses and consumers of the risks associated with under-licensed software, from a legal, financial and operational point of view," said Alyna Cope, spokeswoman for the BSA UK country committee. "Software piracy hurts our knowledge-based economy by weakening the very foundation on which it is built - respect for intellectual property and innovation." Software piracy also hurts the wider economy, according to BSA and IDC. An IDC study released in January 2008 found that reducing software piracy by 10 percentage points over four years could generate more than £6 billion in economic growth and increase tax revenues by £1.47 billion to support local programmes and services. British Chambers of Commerce senior policy adviser, Kevin Hoctor, said piracy threatens the digital community jobs and revenue. "To realise the Government's Digital Britain ambition, our digital and communications industries must have the protection they need in terms of copyright and piracy," said Hoctor. "In the current economic climate the impact effective enforcement could have on employment and revenue should not be ignored". http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...&NewsID=115805 __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

05-15-2009, 12:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
Elkar Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 69 OS: XP SP2, Vista	Re: Pirates eat into UK software sales First off, let me state that I do not condone the piracy of software (or music or movies, etc...) But... I am really getting sick of all these studies suggesting that pirates are costing these industries billions of dollars and forcing programmers to lose their jobs. By obsessing over piracy and focusing so much on prevention and lawsuits, these companies are driving their own costs up. This results in inflated prices and the treatment of EVERY customer as a potential criminal. And they wonder why so many people don't buy their software? Not every pirated copy is a lost sale. Just because someone has a pirated program doesn't mean that they would have paid for it had a pirated version not been available. Most would simply have found an alternative or gone without. Just accept the fact that piracy exists and isn't going away. Then stop believing these reports and just focus on delivering a quality product at a reasonable price. People will buy. Sure, some piracy will still happen, but it won't be "lost sales". Just my 2 cents, Elkar