Oct 28

Is Software Piracy A Bad Thing?
Sun Review October 28, 2000

According to a recent survey commissioned by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), more than one in every three business software applications in use during 1999 was pirated. Piracy losses for the U.S. and Canada lead every other region of the world at an estimated $3.6 billion, or 26% of the total. The study claims that in Canada alone, 41% of software used by businesses is obtained illegally.

"Software piracy continues unabated, robbing the industry of thousands of jobs, billions in wages, tax revenues and critical investments in new technologies," according to Robert Holleyman, president and CEO, Business Software Alliance. "No industry would or should tolerate such a high rate of theft. The explosive growth of the Internet is making piracy even more prevalent, since pirated copies of software can be distributed and downloaded quickly and globally, with the click of a mouse."

I don't doubt that software piracy is a reality. Most of us will admit to using at least one piece of software that we've "borrowed" from a friend or relative. As Jimmy Buffet in A Pirate Looks At 40 says "I've done a bit of smugglin'". However, it's hard to believe the industry's claims that that most of us own 35-59% pirated software. And if we're considering business software only, the general consensus is that the majority of businesses do purchase enough software licenses for the number of workstations.

So how does the BSA accurately gauge the amount of piracy around the world? The study compares two sets of data: the demand for new software applications and the legal supply of new software applications. And where does the study obtain these figures? Directly from participating software manufacturers, who supply the BSA with proprietary shipment data protected by non-disclosure agreements. So in truth, it is the software industry itself that decides what the demand for new software applications may be, not the consumer.

Regardless of what the actual percentage of piracy may be, there is still the matter of how much piracy subtracts from sales. Industry groups assume that every piece of pirated software represents a lost sale. But what these groups don't take into account is that piracy may actually add to software sales. I'm the registered owner of thousands of dollars of software, but I've rarely bought a program that I didn't have as a bootleg first. What sells me on software is working with it. If software is well designed and meets a real need, if it's truly useful and makes me more productive, I will buy it, no matter what it costs.

I don't think I am unusual in this respect. If an average user has a pirated copy of a program they use regularly enough for it to become an important part of their work, they will eventually need to buy it - for the manual, for tech support, for free or less expensive upgrades, or for simple shrinkwrap lust. These days, the complex nature of most programs makes it tough to get by without the manuals, tech support and bug fixes.

For more information on piracy, and what you can do to protect yourself and your business, visit the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (www.caast.org).