The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has recently published a report saying that almost half the world’s PC users acquire software illegally and think that it’s okay to do so. It recently published on its blog: 47% of personal computers acquire software through illegal means most of the time, with folks in developing countries contributing to most of the piracy. The BSA conducted its research by surveying approximately 15,000 PC users in 32 countries – which meant about 400-500 in-person or online interviews per country.
The level of piracy levels vary, with some folks installing single-licensed software on multiple machines, while others would download program from P2P network. China had the highest percentage of regular software pirates compared to the rest of the world (perhaps because it also has the largest population in the world?), followed by countries like Nigeria, Vietnam, Ukraine, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Mexico.
Most of these folks who pirate software also believe that it is common and think it is unlikely that they’ll get caught. The BSA reported that $59 billion worth of software was lost last year due to piracy – and most of these people that took part in the crime had no idea that piracy was wrong. It sure looks like a lot of folks will need an education in piracy and knowing what is wrong in order to improve the situation. Check out the full BSA report.