View Full Version : World software piracy losses climb to $29 billion
Lootr2Core
07-07-2004, 12:07 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/07/07/software.piracy.reut/index.html
First response is WOW that is huge... but later in the article it states that 92% of it is in China and Vietnam. So.. a little over 2 billion for the rest of the world? I'm not saying 2 billion aint a lot of coin, but is piracy really that big of a problem in the US then? Would seem that software piracy is at about the same level as general shoplifting. (I don't do either btw)
opportunity777
07-07-2004, 12:09 PM
I like how these losses are calculated. Eventhough gas station worker A. pirates a copy of Adobe Photoshop and he would never be a customer to buy it that is considered a loss as well.
You can't count something to be a loss if someone can't afford it in the first place, but if they did that they wouldn't be able to get the #'s so big :P
WildWop
07-07-2004, 12:12 PM
I like how these losses are calculated. Eventhough gas station worker A. pirates a copy of Adobe Photoshop and he would never be a customer to buy it that is considered a loss as well.
You can't count something to be a loss if someone can't afford it in the first place, but if they did that they wouldn't be able to get the #'s so big :P
Yet piracy is stealing and stealing occurs when people can't afford to buy the item, right? The gas station attendant needed Photoshop for some purpose, so if they were not a gas station attendant they would buy it. It is a loss since there is one more PS user out there that did not pay for the right to use the app.
abrannan
07-07-2004, 12:15 PM
I like how these losses are calculated. Eventhough gas station worker A. pirates a copy of Adobe Photoshop and he would never be a customer to buy it that is considered a loss as well.
You can't count something to be a loss if someone can't afford it in the first place, but if they did that they wouldn't be able to get the #'s so big :P
Yes, but that gas station worker uses that copy of Photoshop and then finds himself inspired to open a graphics design studio. Now since his business can be audited by the BSA, he needs a legitimate copy of Photoshop, since that's all he knows how to use. Why do you think Microsoft and Adobe make their software so easy to pirate?
If Photoshop was harder to pirate, maybe the Gas station attendant would have looked for cheap/free alternatives (Like Gimp, for instance). Now when he opens his shop, he's using Linux Workstations running Gimp, all for free. And both Microsoft and Adobe miss out on sales. The rampant piracy provides a justification for Adobe to keep their prices high on their product.
eldad9
07-07-2004, 12:22 PM
That's nothing. I'm losing more than fifty million dollars a year because the movie studios refuse to make me the lead actor in all the blockbuster action movies.
Also I like how they call copyright infringement "piracy" to make it sound as evil as pillaging, raping and murdering.
bignick
07-07-2004, 12:24 PM
That figure is a bunch of crap.
Storamin
07-07-2004, 12:31 PM
That figure is a bunch of crap.
Ditto. Just because someone pirates a PC game off the net doesn't mean they would have bought it. Hell, they may not even get around to playing the game, just having it burn a hole in their hard drive.
bignick
07-07-2004, 12:33 PM
That figure is a bunch of crap.
Ditto. Just because someone pirates a PC game off the net doesn't mean they would have bought it. Hell, they may not even get around to playing the game, just having it burn a hole in their hard drive.
plus, how the hell do they even know how many copies have been pirated?
Tromack
07-07-2004, 12:33 PM
That's nothing. I'm losing more than fifty million dollars a year because the movie studios refuse to make me the lead actor in all the blockbuster action movies.
Also I like how they call copyright infringement "piracy" to make it sound as evil as pillaging, raping and murdering.
You are an idiot. Piracy is a very real problem. America does not produce many physical products any more, our intellectual properties are our major export. And while most piracy takes place outside of America, it is usually of American products.
WildWop
07-07-2004, 12:35 PM
How 'bout we view that as the overall value of the software being downloaded, and not as a loss statement? It's still a crazy amount of illegally acquired product.
eldad9
07-07-2004, 12:42 PM
You are an idiot. Piracy is a very real problem. America does not produce many physical products any more, our intellectual properties are our major export. And while most piracy takes place outside of America, it is usually of American products.
You must be confusing me with somebody who didn't say it was a real problem, but you're also confusing "copyright infringement" and "piracy".
Zenithian Legend
07-07-2004, 12:43 PM
So is this just computer software, or does it include DVDs (China is notorious for this), Music (WinMX, Kazaa, etc) and Video Games, through emulation and so forth.
America does not produce many physical products any more, our intellectual properties are our major export.
If you're just going to go make things up try to keep them in the realm of sanity: http://www.intracen.org/tradstat/sitc3-3d/er842.htm
eldad9
07-07-2004, 12:46 PM
RTFA. They're discussing software - probably PC/Macintosh software only.
magilacudy
07-07-2004, 12:50 PM
America does not produce many physical products any more, our intellectual properties are our major export.
If you're just going to go make things up try to keep them in the realm of sanity: http://www.intracen.org/tradstat/sitc3-3d/er842.htm
You beat me to it. :?