m ay 2 0 1 0

s e v e n t h a n n u a l b s a / idc g l o ba l s o f t wa r e

09 piracy study

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 1

Executive Summary

Despite the most significant global recession in over 20 years, 2009 proved to be a surprisingly
good year in the fight against software piracy. Conventional wisdom led many to believe that the
recession would drive personal computer (PC) users to deploy more unlicensed software simply
to save money, but the results of the 2009 Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC Global PC
Software Piracy Study show that momentum from years of anti-piracy programs held firm through
the economic downturn.

In 2009, installations of unlicensed software on PCs The value of unlicensed software hit $51.4 billion, a 3%
dropped in 54 of the 111 individual economies studied, decrease from 2008. However, in real terms and factor-
and rose in only 19. It is clear that anti-piracy education and ing in adjustments for exchange rates, the value of
enforcement campaigns spearheaded in recent years by the unlicensed software stayed the same in 2009 as 2008.
software industry, national and local governments, and law Where losses did grow, it was almost entirely the result
enforcement agencies continue to have a positive impact in of growing software markets in higher piracy economies.
driving legal purchases and use of PC software.
Forces driving piracy down in many economies included
Nevertheless, software piracy remains an urgent issue: the vendor legalization programs, government education,
global PC software piracy rate rose in 2009 to 43%, up two enforcement actions and technology shifts, such as in-
percentage points over the previous year. This means that creased deployment of digital rights management (DRM).
for every $100 worth of legitimate software sold in 2009, an
additional $75 worth of unlicensed software also made its Forces driving piracy up included the rapid growth of
way into the market. the consumer PC market, activity in the base of older
computers where unlicensed software is more prevalent,
The 2009 BSA/IDC Global PC Software Piracy Study identi- and increasing sophistication of online criminals leverag-
fied a number of trends in the use and impact of unlicensed ing the internet and other new means of distribution.
PC software:
Economies with the lowest software piracy rates remain
The overall piracy rate increased from 41% in 2008 to the United States, with a piracy rate of 20%, and Japan
43% in 2009 — largely a result of PC sales and soft- and Luxembourg, both with a piracy rate of 21%. Econo-
ware installations growing much faster in higher piracy, mies with the highest piracy rates include Georgia,
emerging economies than in more mature markets with Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Moldova, each with a rate
lower piracy rates. above 90%.

In 2009, unlicensed PC software use dropped in 49%

of the economies studied, stayed the same in 34%
and rose in 17%.

Table of contents

Piracy in 2009 — and the Impact of the Recession..... 3

PIRACY RATE DYNAMICS ­— 2009 WAS DIFFERENT.............. 5

BENEFITS OF LOWERING PIRACY...................................... 13

BSA/IDC GLOBAL PC SOFTWARE PIRACY STUDY

METHODOLOGY.............................................................. 16

BSA BLUEPRINT FOR REDUCING SOFTWARE PIRACY......... 19

ABOUT BSA.................................................................... 20
Piracy in 2009 —
and the Impact of the Recession
The recession slowed the overall deployment of software, with fewer units deployed worldwide
in 2009 than 2008. However, consumers continued to spend on PCs and software despite the soft
economy. PC shipments to consumers rose 17%, while shipments to businesses, governments and
schools dropped by 15%. More than half of all new PCs shipped went to consumers, as shown in
figure 1. Furthermore, consumers were much more active installing new software than businesses,
governments or schools. More than three quarters of all software shipped in 2009 went to
consumers.

This shift in the PC market has an impact on piracy, as FIGURE 1: PCs in 2009 Getting Software
software piracy rates are generally higher on consumer PCs
than those of other segments of the market. What is striking
is that the increase in consumer purchases and software 10%
deployments did not breach the long term trend in declin- new
consumer
ing piracy rates in many economies. 9% PCs
new
Finally, because the recession slowed shipments of new PCs, other*
PCs
it raised the deployment of software onto older PCs in com-
41%
parison to new PCs. IDC finds that piracy is generally higher Consumer
in software installed on older computers than on new PCs. PCs Installed
before 2009
In short, while the recession drove all the market dynamics 40%
in the direction of higher piracy, PC software piracy rates de- other*
clined or stayed the same in the vast majority of economies PCs installed
before 2009
around the world.

820 million PCs

* Schools, businesses, and government

Source: seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study, may 2010

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 3

FIGURE 2: Emerging* Market Growth

HAS THE PIRACY RATE PEAKED?

% of Worldwide Installed Base of PCs
51% In last year’s study, IDC posited that the global PC piracy
60% 45% 2013
rate had a year or two more to rise before it would peak
2009
and begin to show sustained decreases (as long as piracy
50%
continued to drop in individual markets). But the recession
31% may have accelerated that crossover.
40%
2003
Using the same model that produced this year’s piracy
30%
rate and substituting IDC forecasts for PC shipments and
20% installed base next year, if piracy remains the same in all
economies, the global PC software piracy rate would go
10% up by one percentage point in 2010. However, if the PC
software piracy rate were to drop by one percentage point
0% in the emerging markets only, the global PC software piracy
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Est Est Est rate would remain the same as the 2009 level.

* all countries except aus, nz, jp, us, can, and western europe This is basically what happened this year: Piracy in emerging
Source: seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study, may 2010 markets dropped by slightly more than one percent. If that
pace is sustained next year, it is possible that global piracy
will have peaked in 2009.
An Urgent Issue — Why The Global
Piracy Rate is Up
Despite
60% the progress being made, the global PC software
piracy rate increased by two percentage points in 2009 to
43%.50%
This increase is the result of the rapidly growing PC
markets in emerging geographies, specifically Brazil, India
40%
and China. In 2009, those three markets together accounted
for 86% of the growth in PC shipments. Figure 3 shows the
30%
increasing percentage of the global PC installed base that is
found20%
in emerging markets.

This increased
10% penetration of the market means that even
if piracy were to go down in every high-piracy economy,
the growing
0% market share of PCs in Brazil, India and China
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
would drive the global average rate up. Est Est Est

Study Background

BSA has been studying global trends in PC software piracy software. The study does not include software that runs on
for more than a decade. This is the seventh annual study servers or mainframes .
conducted by IDC, the IT industry’s leading global market
research and forecasting firm, using the same methodology For the study, IDC used proprietary statistics for software
and standard, reliable data sets. and hardware shipments gathered through surveys of
vendors, users and the channel, and enlisted IDC analysts in
The study covers piracy of all packaged software that runs 60+ countries to review local market conditions. With ongo-
on personal computers (PCs), including desktops, laptops ing coverage of hardware and software markets in 100+
and ultra-portables, including netbooks. This includes countries, and with sixty percent of its analyst force outside
operating systems, systems software such as databases the United States, IDC has a deep and broad information
and security packages, business applications and consumer base from which to assess the market and estimate the rate
applications such as games, personal finance and reference of PC software piracy around the world.

4 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

PIRACY RATE DYNAMICS ­—
2009 WAS DIFFERENT
Software comes to market via many paths. 5% more software was deployed onto older computers
(the installed base) than in 2008, as new computer ship-
It can be:
ment growth fell from 8% in 2008 to 3% in 2009.
Bundled with new PCs
Shifts in behavior, such as greater implementation of
Sold in retail stores software asset management (SAM) programs, which
Distributed by resellers help users keep track of software licenses and optimize
the right software for their workloads, are helping lower
Bundled as part of larger projects
software piracy. SAM allows enterprises to recoup the
Ordered online cost of legitimate software licenses in savings elsewhere
Copied and installed using volume licenses in IT.

Made available through vendor legalization programs Changing distribution and licensing models had an
Given as a gift impact, as vendors offered more software for free and
through large legalization programs in conjunction with
Moved from older PCs special government programs. Such programs had a
Pirated from peer-to-peer and other web sites major impact in countries like Portugal, Argentina and
Chile. In other cases, vendors permitted more legal
Borrowed from friends
copying of certain software programs or bundled soft-
Bought from street vendors ware — and sometimes even the entire PC — as part of
another service, such as broadband Internet access.
Along each path lies an opportunity for piracy: from counter-
feit software working its way through the distribution channel
to the end user, to illegal software sold on an auction site FIGURE 3: Emerging* vs. Developed Markets
to a buyer who may have no idea it is not legitimate; from
organized crime syndicates with CD duplicating plants, to PC Shipment Growth 2009
corporate IT departments that make unintentional errors 25
managing their software licenses. 21%
20
What’s more, each path ends at a different destination, from
a corporate executive’s new laptop to a young person’s
hand-me-down home computer; from a brand new desk- 15

top at a large enterprise, to a four-year-old computer in a

middle-school classroom. 10

While the BSA/IDC study does not segment PC software 4%

5
piracy by distribution path or destination, it is possible to 2%
look at the input data and draw some conclusions about the 0
factors impacting software piracy: China All Mature
Emerging*

In 2009, 4% more software was deployed by consum-

* all countries except aus, nz, jp, us, can, and western europe
ers than in 2008 as enterprise users slowed software
Source: seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study, may 2010
deployment in response to the recession, and as the
consumer share of the PC installed base jumped from
50% in 2008 to 53% in 2009.

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 5

There were also changes in hardware dynamics, which THE (LIMITED) IMPACT OF
impact software piracy rates: CLOUD COMPUTING
Over the last few years the number of non-branded (or The increased complexity of computing environments and
“white box”) suppliers of PCs — small companies who increasing access to the Internet is creating a new delivery
build PCs — has decreased. Shipments of non-branded model for software — selling it as a service. For the last sev-
white box PCs dropped from 22% of shipments in 2008 eral years, software-as-a-service, or SaaS, was the forerunner
to 18% in 2009. This has had a positive impact on the of a new paradigm of computing called “cloud computing.”
piracy rate as these white box suppliers have been In cloud computing, all sorts of IT functionality is available
identified in our previous studies as a frequent source of remotely, or “in the cloud,” including storage, processing,
unlicensed software. and services.
At the same time, shipments of laptop and netbook At the moment, cloud computing is in an embryonic phase,
computers — which generally have more bundled legiti- accounting for less than 1% of total IT spending in 2009. But
mate software on them — increased faster than desktop SaaS is not embryonic. In 2009, it was a healthy $13 billion
shipments. Laptop computers grew from 40% of the market, or 5% of the software market, and it is growing five
installed base in 2008 to 45% in 2009. times faster than the software market as a whole.
Emerging markets accounted for most of the growth in Since IDC’s methodology for counting legitimate software
PC shipments. The number of PCs shipped in 2009 grew begins with a sizing of the PC software market, and since
by 8.4 million over 2008. Of that growth, 7.3 million IDC includes SaaS revenues in the software market, the
were shipped into Brazil, India and China — with China BSA/IDC study does account for SaaS. That said, to date
leading the way. SaaS has had very little impact on the PC software piracy
rate. SaaS has a higher penetration in mainframe and server
What made 2009 truly different was the way these trends
software than in PC software, and a higher penetration in
balanced each other. More consumers deploying software
enterprise than consumer markets. Even if it is assumed
generally means higher piracy. Fewer white box PCs gener-
there was no piracy in SaaS offerings in 2009, the impact
ally means lower piracy. More activity in the installed base
would be less than a percentage point on the global soft-
generally results in higher piracy. More laptop shipments
ware piracy rate. Going forward, however, as SaaS and cloud
generally results in lower piracy.
computing increase in prominence, that impact will grow.

WHAT IDC SAID LAST YEAR ABOUT THE RECESSION

What follows is an excerpt from the 2008 BSA/IDC Global cheap netbooks and lower prices from vendors to spur
PC Software Piracy Study: demand, to the deployment of software asset management
programs that can lower overall IT costs, even if it means
The economic crisis has done the same thing as rising prices spending more on legitimate software.
by raising the cost of software compared to discretionary
spending in the case of consumers, or IT budgets in the Finally, economists and academics have found that the cost
case of businesses and other enterprises. of software is only one factor driving software piracy. These
include culture, the strength of laws and the effectiveness
The economic crisis, inasmuch as it affects software piracy, of the institutions enforcing intellectual property rights. So
will have a bigger effect next year [than in 2008]. But then the economic crisis will have an impact on piracy — part of
again, there are other market dynamics that will be driven it negative, part of it positive — but it will be only one of
by the crisis that could curtail piracy, from the growth of many factors.

6 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

REVIEW OF THE NUMBERS
The PC software piracy rate for a given country reflects a than another country, which means that it might have more
complex set of inputs to the simple equation that produces unlicensed software per dollar of legitimate software. One
the rate. These include: country might see a higher percentage of its older comput-
ers receiving software in a year than another country, which,
PC shipment growth again, could mean it would have a higher piracy rate.
Activity in the installed base of older machines
A fuller discussion of the study inputs and methodology is
Consumer versus business ownership provided in the section BSA/IDC Global PC Software Piracy
Distribution channels — especially growth or decline Rate Study Methodology and at www.BSA.org/globalstudy.
of non-branded vendors
Figure 4 shows the relative ranking by piracy rate of seven
Legalization and special pricing programs of vendors regions, as categorized by IDC. Six of the seven shown are
Availability of legitimate software mutually exclusive; the seventh — the European Union —
includes economies from Western Europe and Central and
Availability of pirated software
Eastern Europe.
Broadband access
PC software piracy dropped or was flat in North America,
Desktop-to-laptop mix
Asia Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and
Economic conditions, taxes and exchange rates that Africa, and Latin America. It went up worldwide because of
affect software prices or the discretionary income of the emerging market growth effect.
buyers
PC software piracy also went up in Western Europe because
Because of these complex inputs, two economies with of the impact of growing consumer purchases. Consumer
seemingly similar PC software markets may have quite shipments in Western Europe grew 14% and shipments to
different piracy rates. One country may have more schools, government, and businesses dropped 17%.
sophisticated PC users with more software on their PCs

FIGURE 4: Software Piracy Rates by Region

Asia-Pacific 59%
61%

Central/Eastern Europe 64%

66%

Latin America 63%

65%

Middle East/Africa
59%
59%

North America 21%

21%

Western Europe 34%

33%

European Union 35%

35%

43% 2009
Worldwide
41% 2008

Source: seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study, may 2010

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 7

There are some other interesting insights to be found at the Greece and Colombia, where tax audits also include
country level: software license compliance. This is one of the reasons
piracy has dropped six points from 2005 to 2008. The
The commercial value of illegally used software in China piracy rate stayed the same in 2009, largely the result of
last year was $7.6 billion — a $900 million increase over a drop in economic output and exports and a 29% drop
2008. Given the rapidly expanding technology market, in non-home PC shipments.
software theft will continue to grow significantly unless
the Chinese government acts on the commitments it has The piracy rate dynamic in Mexico was a complex one.
made to address the issue. The outbreak of the H1N1 virus resulted in a general
shutdown of activities for several weeks, as the country
In Brazil, overall PC shipments were flat and business PC directed its attention to dealing with this emergency.
shipments dropped 21%, yet piracy dropped. Technol- Further, PC shipments to consumers — which grew by
ogy has helped somewhat as laptops have increased 24% in 2009 and accounted for 80% of all software
from 27% of PC shipments in 2008 to 35% in 2009 and deployed — was a factor which proved to be a strong
the white box share of shipments dropped one percent. influence on the piracy rate. PC shipments for business-
But most of the drop was related to the fact that the es fell by 16% in 2009.
impact of the recession was muted in Brazil and did not
derail government efforts to combat piracy. Table 1 shows the economies with the highest and lowest
piracy rates around the world.
While Russia’s economy suffered in 2009 — IT spend-
ing dropped 27%, PC shipments dropped 23% — its
PC software piracy rate nevertheless dropped another
percentage point. To some extent the entire IT market
froze, with much less software deployment than last
year, but to a greater extent the anti-piracy structures
put in place in prior years, when piracy dropped nearly
20 points, held firm.

Serbia is one of a handful of economies, including Italy,

Leverage in Licensing

Although much of the press covering software piracy focus- Under-licensing represents a fertile area for lowering piracy,
es on Internet piracy, the BSA/IDC PC Software Piracy Study mainly because some — but not all — under-licensing is
looks at all methods of software acquisition — from buying inadvertent. Licensing programs offered by vendors can ac-
it in a store or having it pre-installed on a PC to obtaining it count for as much as half the software deployed to enter-
through corporate volume licenses. Although a majority of prises. If software vendors can reduce PC software piracy by
PC software in the world is deployed to consumer comput- 10 percentage points through licensing programs, enter-
ers, a good portion of the rest is deployed using various prise piracy could be reduced by five points and this could
vendor licensing models. These include licenses for software reduce the overall PC software piracy rate in a country by
bundles, licenses to replicate software across a specified one to four points.
number of PCs, volume licenses managed by third parties,
and so on. In view of this, most vendors have instituted some sort of
product or service to help users keep track of software as-
For users, keeping track of these licenses and maintaining sets and manage software license compliance. This is often
compliance can be a complex endeavor. Without good called software asset management, or SAM. SAM programs
software management practices in place, it is likely that aid configuration and product selection, not only facilitating
licensees will use more copies of a software package than license compliance, but also optimizing an organization’s
is permitted by the licenses, and that can be a civil and/or software assets for the tasks at hand, yielding productivity
criminal violation. improvements in the IT shop and on end user desks that can
outweigh the cost of buying legitimate software.

8 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

Table 1: Top 30 Highest and Lowest
Piracy Rates in 2009
QUANTIFYING SOFTWARE PIRACY
Highest Piracy Lowest Piracy
In 2009, the worldwide value of unlicensed software hit
Georgia 95% United States 20% $51.4 billion. This number is a 3% decrease from 2008;
Zimbabwe 92% Japan 21% however, when factoring in the changes in exchange rates,
Bangladesh 91% Luxembourg 21% the 2009 value of unlicensed software actually represents
Moldova 91% New Zealand 22% zero change from 2008.
Armenia 90% Australia 25%
Yemen 90% Austria 25% Figure 5 shows the value of unlicensed software by region.
Sri Lanka 89% Belgium 25% A few facts:
Azerbaijan 88% Finland 25%
Libya 88% Sweden 25% Asia Pacific remains the most significant region in terms
Belarus 87% Switzerland 25% of the value of unlicensed software — this year hitting
Venezuela 87% Denmark 26%
over $16 billion.
Indonesia 86% United Kingdom 27%
Vietnam 85% Germany 28% Even with relatively low piracy rates, the size of the
Ukraine 85% Netherlands 28%
technology markets in North America and Western
Iraq 85% Canada 29%
Europe led to a combined $21 billion in unlicensed
Pakistan 84% Norway 29%
Algeria 84% Israel 33%
software in 2009.
Cameroon 83% Ireland 35%
Where the value of unlicensed software went up from
Nigeria 83% Singapore 35%
Paraguay 82% South Africa 35%
2008 to 2009, the reason was tied to overall growth of
Zambia 82% UAE 36% the market. The pirated portion, even if it was a smaller
Montenegro 81% Czech Republic 37% percentage than the year before, was of a bigger pie.
Bolivia 80% Taiwan 38% Where the values went down, it was a generally a com-
El Salvador 80% France 40% bination of shrinking market and falling or stable piracy.
Guatemala 80% Portugal 40%
Botswana 79% Reunion 40%
China 79% Hungary 41%
Ivory Coast 79% South Korea 41%
Kenya 79% Spain 42%
Nicaragua 79% Slovakia 43%

FIGURE 5: Commercial Value of Unlicensed Software by Region

Asia-Pacific $16,544 2009

$15,261
2008

Central/Eastern Europe $4,641

$7,003

Latin America $6,210

$4,311

Middle East/Africa $2,887

$2,999

North America $9,379

$10,401

Western Europe $11,750

$13,023

European Union $12,469

$13,981

Note: cOMMERCIAL VALUE Expressed in Millions of US Dollars

Source: seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study, may 2010

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 9

Table 2: Top 30 Economies with Highest Commercial
Value of Pirated Software in 2009
The $51.4 billion commercial value of unlicensed PC soft-
Country COMMERCIAL VALUE $m ware is the value of pirated software if it had been sold in
United States $8,390 the market. It is calculated using the blended average price
China $7,583 of software in an economy, as sold in retail stores, using
Russia $2,613 volume licenses, and as bundled with hardware.
France $2,544
Brazil $2,254 Calculating commercial value is intended to help quantify
Germany $2,023 the value of unlicensed software in the market and allows
India $2,003 for year over year comparisons of change in the software
Japan $1,838 piracy landscape. It does not mean that eliminating unli-
Italy $1,733 censed software would grow the market by $51.4 billion
United Kingdom $1,581 — not every unlicensed or stolen software product would
Mexico $1,056
be replaced by a paid-for version. But IDC has studied the
Spain $1,014
relative performance of software markets in relation to pi-
Canada $943
racy rates and has found that, in general, as piracy drops the
Indonesia $886
Thailand $694
ratio of software sold to hardware sold grows.
Venezuela $685
Table 2 shows economies ranked by the value of unlicensed
Argentina $645
South Korea $575
software.
Australia $550
Note that it is possible for a market to see a drop in the
Netherlands $525
Poland $506
PC software piracy rate and an increase in the commercial
Malaysia $453 value of unlicensed software because of general PC software
Turkey $415 market growth.
Vietnam $353
Switzerland $344 For example, a country with a PC software market of
South Africa $324 $150 million in 2008 and a piracy rate of 45%, would show
Chile $315 the commercial value of unlicensed software in 2008 to be
Sweden $304 $123 million. If the PC software market grew 10% in 2009,
Saudi Arabia $304 yet piracy dropped 2%, it would still have commercial value
Ukraine $272 losses in 2009 of $124.5 million.

the perils of piracy

Despite the connotation, unlicensed PC software is not This malicious code was designed to capture key strokes
necessarily ‘free.’ It takes effort to obtain, and it usually or send users to bogus websites where they would enter
requires more support than legitimate software since it does personal data that enables identity theft.
not come with a steady stream of updates and patches, and
may, in fact, contain malware. The study also found the cost of recovery from a security
incident resulting from pirated software on a PC can cost
In a 2006 IDC study, (“The Dangers of Counterfeit Soft- more than $1,000, often exceeding the cost of legitimate
ware,” IDC White Paper, October 2006), research revealed software.
that one in four websites that offered pirated software or
counterfeit activation keys attempted to install infectious
computer code, like Trojan horses and key loggers, on test
computers. Even more striking, 59% of the counterfeit soft-
ware or key generators downloaded from peer-to-peer (P2P)
sites contained malicious or unwanted code.

10 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

THE IMPACT OF OPEN SOURCE —
REAL BUT STABLE
The BSA/IDC study includes all types of software in the Of course, not captured in the study is how much PC soft-
piracy equation, from consumer games and industry-specific ware has been fully replaced by free web-based services,
applications to operating systems and antivirus programs. often supported by advertisements. These include every-
It also takes account of freeware and open source software. thing from package tracking (once a paid-for PC application)
to retirement calculators. The best example is web-based
For the purposes of this study, the difference between email, wherein no software is installed on the local PC and
freeware and open source software is semantic since they no revenues track to the software market. Hence, these
count the same in the calculation of the piracy rate. Open free applications do not appear in or impact the annual PC
source software is software developed using open source software piracy study.
protocols, meaning it can be modified and re-used, even
for commercial use, though modifications must generally be
offered back into the public domain.
FIGURE 6: The Impact of Freeware and Open Source
Freeware is generally created by one entity and released Software in 2009
to the market, either as an entry level enticement to
upgrade to paid software, or as an altruistic offering to other
users. Open source software is generally created by multiple
developers working off the same software source code. 12-22%
Free or
In the course of identifying the PC software piracy rate for Open-Source
a country, IDC must ascertain what percent of deployed PC
software is free or open source (see figure 6). 43%
pirated
This is accomplished through annual surveys that poll con-
sumer and business users about their software deployment
during the year, asking what types of software is deployed
on their PCs. Depending on the country, as much as 25% of 35-45%
Legitimate Paid-for
all software deployed might be free or open source. In prac- Software
tice, much more free software is used on PCs by consumers
than businesses.

While the share of the market that is free is significant,

it does not change much year to year. When it does, it
is more often related to trends in the ratio of consumer Excluded: Trials and beta software, Utilities and drivers

software (which has a higher percentage of ‘free’ software)

to business software (which has a lower percentage of ‘free’ Source: seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study, may 2010
software) than to changes in the penetration of free or open
source software in the overall market.

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 11

BENEFITS OF LOWERING PIRACY
Reducing PC software piracy can bring significant economic benefits to a market or economy. IDC
estimates that for every dollar of software sold in a market, another $3–$4 of revenue is generated
for local service and distribution firms.

Since 2002, IDC has conducted research with BSA on the In addition to the economic benefits of reducing software
economic benefits of lowering piracy — in terms of ad- piracy, other significant impacts of piracy include:
ditional jobs, new local revenues and additional taxes
generated. These studies have shown that the benefits to Local software companies can be crippled by competi-
local governments are more significant than just replacing tion from unlicensed and stolen software in the market,
unlicensed software with licensed software. not to mention piracy of their own products.

For example, the results of lower PC software piracy have While local service and distribution firms can make
already been seen in Russia and China. money working with unlicensed software instead of
legitimate software, IDC research shows that they can
In 2003, the BSA/IDC Global Piracy Impact Study projected make more money working with legitimate software.
that Russia would gain more than 6,000 new jobs from low- They can also cut internal support costs.
ering piracy by 10 points in four years. In fact, Russia added
nearly 60,000 jobs by 2008, 9,000 of which IDC attributes Businesses and consumers waste time and money work-
to lower PC software piracy, the remainder to autonomous ing with faulty and unsupported software.
market growth.
For users, using unlicensed software entails not just
In China, the 2003 prediction was that by lowering PC legal risks, but also security risks, outlined in “The Perils
software piracy by ten percentage points in four years, more of Piracy” on Page 10.
than 200,000 jobs would be created. By 2008, China had
actually added more than 800,000 jobs to its IT industry, of
which IDC attributes 220,000 to lower PC software piracy,
the rest to autonomous market growth.

In both economies, lowering PC software piracy has been

part of both government strategy and that of local and
multinational vendors, with action taken over the years on
education, enforcement, legalization, compliance and soft-
ware asset management.

12 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

THE NEED FOR SUSTAINED
ANTI-PIRACY EFFORTS
The trends seen in 2009 — in the midst of a global recession Encouraging government education and enforcement
— validate the effectiveness of long term efforts to lower activity that supports respect for intellectual property
software piracy. It is also clear that most of the economic laws, and reinforces the deterrent effect of anti-piracy
benefits are realized locally. Successful anti-piracy efforts can enforcement actions.
take a variety of forms, including:
Continuing government and industry partnerships in an-
Legalization efforts by software manufacturers to pro- ti-piracy programs, like those of the BSA, and increasing
vide governments with software at a low cost in bulk to lobbying by local industry associations and vendors to
replace unlicensed software. Vendors continued these ensure greater attention to intellectual property rights.
programs in 2009, turning users of illegal software into
customers, and allowing governments to set a good There will be challenges ahead — more consumers in
example for their citizens. emerging markets will have PCs, and more will have broad-
band internet access. The supply of stolen and unlicensed
Continuing agreements with original equipment software available will not decrease. But through ongoing
manufacturers (OEMs) to preload software onto hard- efforts, and government and private sector cooperation,
ware systems before they ship. As the number of non anti-piracy efforts can continue to be successful.
branded white box vendors continues to fall, more of
these agreements will take place.

Employing technical advances, like digital rights man-

agement, that encourage customer self-audits, and FIGURE 7: The Legitimate Versus Pirated Market
offering exclusive, value added services not available to
users of unlicensed software. Developed Emerging
Countries Countries
100%
Promulgating software asset management programs,
with the prospect of delivering user savings even as they 80%
spend money to legalize previously unlicensed software.
60%

40%

20%

0%
Legitimate Pirated Legitimate Pirated

Source: seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study, may 2010

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 13

TABLE 3: PC Software Piracy Rates and Commercial Value of Unlicensed Software

Piracy Rates Commercial Value of Unlicensed Software ($M)

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
Asia Pacific
Australia 25% 26% 28% 29% 31% $550 $613 $492 $515 $361
Bangladesh 91% 92% 92% 92% — $127 $102 $92 $90 —
Brunei 67% 68% 67% — — $14 $15 $13 — —
China 79% 80% 82% 82% 86% $7,583 $6,677 $6,664 $5,429 $3,884
Hong Kong 47% 48% 51% 53% 54% $218 $225 $224 $180 $112
India 65% 68% 69% 71% 72% $2,003 $2,768 $2,025 $1,275 $566
Indonesia 86% 85% 84% 85% 87% $886 $544 $411 $350 $280
Japan 21% 21% 23% 25% 28% $1,838 $1,495 $1,791 $1,781 $1,621
Malaysia 58% 59% 59% 60% 60% $453 $368 $311 $289 $149
New Zealand 22% 22% 22% 22% 23% $63 $75 $55 $49 $30
Pakistan 84% 86% 84% 86% 86% $166 $159 $125 $143 $48
Philippines 69% 69% 69% 71% 71% $217 $202 $147 $119 $76
Singapore 35% 36% 37% 39% 40% $197 $163 $159 $125 $86
South Korea 41% 43% 43% 45% 46% $575 $622 $549 $440 $400
Sri Lanka 89% 90% 90% 90% — $77 $97 $93 $86 —
Taiwan 38% 39% 40% 41% 43% $227 $201 $215 $182 $111
Thailand 75% 76% 78% 80% 80% $694 $609 $468 $421 $259
Vietnam 85% 85% 85% 88% 90% $353 $257 $200 $96 $38
Other AP 90% 91% 91% 86% 82% $303 $69 $56 $148 $29
TOTAL AP 59% 61% 59% 55% 54% $16,544 $15,261 $14,090 $11,718 $8,050

Central and Eastern Europe

Albania 75% 77% 78% 77% 76% $8 $9 $11 $11 $9
Armenia 90% 92% 93% 95% 95% $14 $7 $8 $8 $7
Azerbaijan 88% 90% 92% 94% 94% $52 $55 $50 $51 $40
Belarus 87% — — — — $55 — — — —
Bosnia 66% 67% 68% 68% 69% $14 $15 $13 $14 $13
Bulgaria 67% 68% 68% 69% 71% $115 $139 $63 $50 $41
Croatia 54% 54% 54% 55% 57% $71 $77 $68 $62 $51
Czech Republic 37% 38% 39% 39% 40% $174 $168 $161 $147 $121
Estonia 50% 50% 51% 52% 54% $19 $21 $20 $16 $18
FYROM 67% 68% 68% 69% 70% $15 $14 $11 $10 $9
Georgia 95% 95% — — — $22 $59 — — —
Hungary 41% 42% 42% 42% 42% $113 $146 $125 $111 $106
Kazakhstan 78% 78% 79% 81% 85% $74 $125 $110 $85 $69
Latvia 56% 56% 56% 56% 57% $24 $31 $29 $26 $20
Lithuania 54% 54% 56% 57% 57% $31 $40 $37 $31 $25
Moldova 91% 90% 92% 94% 96% $28 $40 $43 $56 $44
Montenegro 81% 83% 83% 82% 83% $11 $8 $7 $6 $9
Poland 54% 56% 57% 57% 58% $506 $648 $580 $484 $388
Romania 65% 66% 68% 69% 72% $183 $249 $151 $114 $111
Russia 67% 68% 73% 80% 83% $2,613 $4,215 $4,123 $2,197 $1,625
Serbia 74% 74% 76% 78% 80% $67 $99 $72 $59 $95
Slovakia 43% 43% 45% 45% 47% $65 $62 $54 $47 $44
Slovenia 46% 47% 48% 48% 50% $39 $51 $39 $36 $33
Ukraine 85% 84% 83% 84% 85% $272 $534 $403 $337 $239
Rest of CEE 88% 88% 88% 90% 92% $56 $191 $173 $166 $145
TOTAL CEE 64% 66% 68% 68% 69% $4,641 $7,003 $6,351 $4,124 $3,262

Latin America
Argentina 71% 73% 74% 75% 77% $645 $339 $370 $303 $182
Bolivia 80% 81% 82% 82% 83% $40 $20 $19 $15 $10
Brazil 56% 58% 59% 60% 64% $2,254 $1,645 $1,617 $1,148 $766
Chile 64% 67% 66% 68% 66% $315 $202 $187 $163 $109
Colombia 55% 56% 58% 59% 57% $244 $136 $127 $111 $90
Costa Rica 59% 60% 61% 64% 66% $33 $24 $22 $27 $19
Dominican Republic 77% 79% 79% 79% 77% $66 $43 $39 $19 $8
Ecuador 67% 66% 66% 67% 69% $65 $37 $33 $30 $17
El Salvador 80% 80% 81% 82% 81% $46 $28 $28 $18 $8
Guatemala 80% 81% 80% 81% 81% $74 $49 $41 $26 $14
Honduras 74% 74% 74% 75% 75% $17 $9 $8 $7 $4
Mexico 60% 59% 61% 63% 65% $1,056 $823 $836 $748 $525
Nicaragua 79% 79% 80% 80% 80% $5 $4 $4 $4 $2
Panama 73% 73% 74% 74% 71% $42 $24 $22 $18 $8
Paraguay 82% 83% 82% 82% 83% $29 $16 $13 $10 $10
Peru 70% 71% 71% 71% 73% $124 $84 $75 $59 $40
Uruguay 68% 69% 69% 70% 70% $40 $25 $23 $16 $9
Venezuela 87% 86% 87% 86% 82% $685 $484 $464 $307 $173
Other LA 83% 84% 83% 83% 82% $430 $319 $195 $96 $32
TOTAL LA 63% 65% 65% 66% 68% $6,210 $4,311 $4,123 $3,125 $2,026

14 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

 Piracy Rates Commercial Value of Unlicensed Software ($M)

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
Middle East and Africa
Algeria 84% 84% 84% 84% 83% $55 $96 $86 $62 $66
Bahrain 54% 55% 57% 60% 60% $21 $27 $27 $23 $22
Botswana 79% 80% 82% 81% 82% $11 $14 $14 $12 $12
Cameroon 83% 83% 84% 84% 84% $7 $6 $5 $5 $5
Egypt 59% 59% 60% 63% 64% $146 $158 $131 $88 $80
Iraq 85% 85% 85% — — $129 $205 $124 — —
Israel 33% 32% 32% 32% 32% $148 $172 $121 $102 $84
Ivory Coast 79% 80% 81% 82% 82% $14 $15 $15 $16 $23
Jordan 57% 58% 60% 61% 63% $26 $22 $20 $19 $19
Kenya 79% 80% 81% 80% 81% $66 $31 $28 $22 $20
Kuwait 60% 61% 62% 64% 66% $62 $69 $61 $60 $65
Lebanon 72% 74% 73% 73% 73% $46 $49 $44 $39 $34
Libya 88% 87% 88% — — $25 $22 $22 — —
Mauritius 56% 57% 57% 59% 60% $4 $5 $4 $3 $3
Morocco 66% 66% 67% 66% 68% $64 $70 $66 $53 $55
Nigeria 83% 83% 82% 82% 82% $156 $132 $114 $100 $82
Oman 63% 62% 61% 62% 63% $39 $26 $23 $25 $22
Qatar 51% 51% 54% 58% 60% $50 $26 $25 $23 $21
Reunion 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% $1 $1 $1 $0 $1
Saudi Arabia 51% 52% 51% 52% 52% $304 $272 $170 $195 $178
Senegal 78% 79% 80% 81% 82% $5 $7 $6 $6 $6
South Africa 35% 35% 34% 35% 36% $324 $335 $284 $225 $212
Tunisia 72% 73% 76% 79% 81% $44 $48 $54 $55 $54
Turkey 63% 64% 65% 64% 65% $415 $468 $365 $314 $268
UAE 36% 36% 35% 35% 34% $155 $170 $94 $62 $45
Yemen 90% 89% 89% — — $10 $14 $13 — —
Zambia 82% 82% 82% 82% 83% $2 $2 $2 $2 $2
Zimbabwe 92% 92% 91% 91% 90% $4 $4 $3 $2 $6
Other Africa 86% 86% 85% 85% 84% $260 $95 $76 $49 $63
Other ME 88% 87% 87% 89% 91% $294 $438 $448 $423 $154
TOTAL MEA 59% 59% 60% 60% 57% $2,887 $2,999 $2,446 $1,985 $1,602

North America
Canada 29% 32% 33% 34% 33% $943 $1,222 $1,071 $784 $779
Puerto Rico 46% 44% 44% 45% 47% $46 $36 $33 $31 $12
United States 20% 20% 20% 21% 21% $8,390 $9,143 $8,040 $7,289 $6,895
TOTAL NA 21% 21% 21% 22% 22% $9,379 $10,401 $9,144 $8,104 $7,686

Western Europe
Austria 25% 24% 25% 26% 26% $212 $184 $157 $147 $131
Belgium 25% 25% 25% 27% 28% $239 $269 $223 $222 $257
Cyprus 48% 50% 50% 52% 52% $16 $15 $14 $12 $13
Denmark 26% 25% 25% 25% 27% $203 $215 $193 $183 $199
Finland 25% 26% 25% 27% 26% $175 $194 $160 $149 $156
France 40% 41% 42% 45% 47% $2,544 $2,760 $2,601 $2,676 $3,191
Germany 28% 27% 27% 28% 27% $2,023 $2,152 $1,937 $1,642 $1,920
Greece 58% 57% 58% 61% 64% $248 $238 $198 $165 $157
Iceland 49% 46% 48% 53% 57% $11 $23 $33 $32 $18
Ireland 35% 34% 34% 36% 37% $125 $118 $106 $92 $93
Italy 49% 48% 49% 51% 53% $1,733 $1,895 $1,779 $1,403 $1,564
Luxembourg 21% 21% 21% — — $30 $21 $16 — —
Malta 45% 45% 46% 45% 45% $7 $8 $7 $7 $5
Netherlands 28% 28% 28% 29% 30% $525 $563 $502 $419 $596
Norway 29% 28% 29% 29% 30% $195 $229 $195 $181 $169
Portugal 40% 42% 43% 43% 43% $221 $212 $167 $140 $104
Spain 42% 42% 43% 46% 46% $1,014 $1,029 $903 $865 $765
Sweden 25% 25% 25% 26% 27% $304 $372 $324 $313 $340
Switzerland 25% 25% 25% 26% 27% $344 $345 $303 $324 $376
United Kingdom 27% 27% 26% 27% 27% $1,581 $2,181 $1,837 $1,670 $1,802
TOTAL WE 34% 33% 33% 34% 35% $11,750 $13,023 $11,655 $10,642 $11,856

TOTAL WORLDWIDE 43% 41% 38% 35% 35% $51,411 $52,998 $47,809 $39,698 $34,482

European Union 35% 35% 35% 36% 36% $12,469 $13,981 $12,383 $11,003 $12,048
BRIC Countries* 71% 73% 75% 77% 81% $14,453 $15,305 $14,429 $10,049 $6,841

*BRIC Countries are Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 15

BSA/IDC GLOBAL PC SOFTWARE
PIRACY STUDY METHODOLOGY
The approach used to calculate the piracy rate is simple, but the underlying methodology is
sophisticated and robust. Ultimately, determining the global PC software piracy rate includes
collecting 182 discrete data inputs and evaluating PC and software trends and data in each of 111
economies.

What follows is a description of the methodology for the So the piracy equation looks like this:
BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study. A detailed video To get the total number of software units installed — the
presentation of the methodology is also available at denominator — IDC determines how many computers there
www.bsa.org/globalstudy. are in a country and how many received software in 2009.
IDC tracks this information quarterly in 105 countries, either
The basic method for coming up with rates and in products called ‘PC Trackers’ or as part of custom assign-
commercial value of unlicensed software in a ments. The remaining few countries are researched annually
country is as follows: for this study.
1. Determine how much PC software was deployed
Once IDC has determined how many computers there are,
in 2009.
it can determine how much software was installed on each
2. Determine how much PC software was paid for/ computer in 2009.
legally acquired in 2009.
To do this, IDC conducts a survey each year — this year a
3. Subtract one from the other to get the amount
mix of 28 countries from all geographies, levels of IT sophis-
of unlicensed software.
tication and geographic and cultural diversity — totaling
Once the amount of unlicensed software is known, the PC 6,000 consumer responses and 4,300 business user respons-
software piracy rate can be determined as the percentage es. In the survey, respondents are asked how many software
of total software installed. packages (of what type) were installed on their PCs, what

Unlicensed Software Units

Piracy % = -------------------------------------------------------
Total Software Units Installed

16 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

percent were new or upgrades, whether they came with the To arrive at the total number of legitimate software
computers or not and whether they were installed on a new units, IDC applies this formula:
computer or one acquired prior to 2009.

From this survey, IDC develops a picture of the number of Legitimate Software Market $ Value
software packages, including free or open source software, = ----------------------------------------------------
Software Units Average System Price
installed per PC. This allows IDC to calculate the total soft-
ware units installed according to this equation:

Once IDC has determined the number of total units of

Total Software # PCs Getting software installed, the number of legitimate and unlicensed
= units of software installed and the average system price for
Units Installed SW x Units per PC
legitimate software, it is able to calculate the value of unli-
censed software as follows:
For countries that are not surveyed, IDC uses a methodol-
ogy that relies on a correlation between the number of
software units per PC and an emerging market measure $ Commercial #Unlicensed Software Units
= -----------------------------------------------------
published by the International Telecommunications Union, Value Average System Price
called the Information Development Index (IDI). IDC also
considers other correlations such as gross domestic product
The commercial value of unlicensed software, which BSA
(GDP) per capita, PC penetration and various measures of
previously referred to as “losses,” is the value of unlicensed
institutional strength.
software as if it had been sold in the market. This is calcu-
Using the known software loads from survey countries and lated using the same blend of prices used to determine
their IDI scores, IDC is able to use the non-surveyed country the average system price, including: retail, volume license,
IDI scores to estimate a software load. OEM, free/open source, etc. In practice, because of the
many methods of deploying software, the average system
To get the number of unlicensed software units — the price is lower than retail prices one would find in stores.
numerator of the piracy equation — IDC comes up with a
measure of the software market. IDC routinely publishes Calculating commercial value is intended to help quantify
software market data from about 80 countries and stud- the value of unlicensed software in the market and allows
ies an additional 20 or so on a custom basis. For the few for year over year comparisons of changes in the software
remaining countries, IDC conducts annual research for the piracy landscape.
purposes of this study. This research provides the value of
the legitimate “paid-for” market.

To convert the software market value to number of units,

IDC determines an average system price for all of the
PC software in the country. This is done by developing a
country-specific matrix of software prices — retail, volume
license, OEM, free/open source, etc. — across a matrix of
products, including security, office automation, operating
systems and more. IDC multiplies the two matrices together
to get a final average, blended software price.

IDC’s pricing information comes from its pricing trackers and

from local analyst research. The weightings — OEM versus
retail, consumer versus business — are taken from IDC
surveys.

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 17

WHAT SOFTWARE IS INCLUDED THE IMPACT OF EXCHANGE RATES
The IDC methodology calculates piracy on all software In the past, dollar figures in the value tables were in con-
that runs on personal computers — including desktops, por- stant dollars from the year before, so the 2008 value of
tables and new netbooks. That includes operating systems, unlicensed software was stated in 2007 dollars.
systems software, such as databases and security packages,
and applications software; for example, office automation This year, IDC has chosen to state the value in 2009 dollars.
packages, finance and tax packages, PC computer games This two year jump in exchange rates means comparisons
and industry-specific applications. between 2008 and 2009 need to be put in perspective.

IDC also looks at legitimate free software and open source In 2008 and 2009 — the base year for the 2009 values —
software, which is software that is licensed in a way that puts the US dollar dropped slightly against the euro and the yen,
it into the public domain for common use. It is typically free but gained against the ruble, the British pound and the
but can also be used in commercial products. IDC does, Mexican peso.
however, exclude routine device drivers and free download-
When the value of the US dollar goes down against a
able utilities, such as screen savers, that would not displace
currency, the value of unlicensed software will go up be-
paid for software or normally be recognized by a user as a
cause the same amount of unlicensed software in the local
software program.
currency will be worth more US dollars in the exchange.
As mentioned previously, the study does include software When the US dollar increases in value against a currency,
as a service if it is paid for, but excludes web-based services the opposite effect occurs.
that might supplant the need for a paid for package to be
This year, adjusting the 2008 value figure to accommodate
installed on a PC. Software sold as part of a legalization
exchange rates would raise that value by 3%, making the
program — such as a bulk sale to a government to distrib-
real difference between 2009 and 2008 values zero.
ute to schools — is counted in the year the bulk purchase
(or gift) occurs.

18 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

BSA BLUEPRINT FOR
REDUCING SOFTWARE PIRACY

Increase Public Education and Awareness Step-up Enforcement with Dedicated Resources
Reducing software piracy often requires a fundamental Too often, software thieves are not treated as seriously
shift in the public’s attitude toward it; public education is as other criminals and the punishment is too insignifi-
critical. Governments can increase public awareness of cant to be an effective deterrent. Countries can elevate
the importance of respecting creative works by inform- their enforcement of intellectual property by:
ing businesses and the public at large about the risks
associated with using pirated software and encouraging Creating specialized intellectual property enforce-
and rewarding the use of legitimate products. Some of ment units at the national and local level and
the most successful efforts stem from comprehensive providing dedicated resources to investigate and
public education campaigns launched jointly by govern- prosecute intellectual property theft;
ment and industry to promote the value of software, and
Increasing cross-border cooperation among police
the legal and commercial benefits of
and other enforcement agencies to improve coordi-
managing software as an asset.
nation for law enforcement in multiple countries; and
Implement the WIPO Copyright Treaty
Supporting the training of law enforcement and judi-
In 1996, in direct response to the growing threat of
ciary officials (including establishment of specialized
Internet piracy, the World Intellectual Property Organiza-
IP courts where appropriate) and providing better
tion (WIPO) adopted new copyright treaties to enable
technical assistance to ensure that the people on the
better enforcement against digital and online piracy.
front lines of piracy enforcement are equipped with
More than 1.2 billion people around the globe now
the tools they need to deal with the changing nature
have Internet access—increasing the power and poten-
of intellectual property theft.
tial of software, but also opening new doors for pirates
to distribute their wares. In order to ensure protection of Lead by Example
copyrighted works in the digital age, countries need to Because governments are the largest users of software
update national copyright laws to implement their WIPO in the world, one of the most effective mechanisms
obligations. Among other things, these measures ensure for public persuasion stems from governments them-
that protected works are not made available online with- selves actively managing their own software assets and
out the author’s permission, and that copy protection sending a strong and clear message that they will not
tools are not hacked or circumvented. tolerate piracy. This can be achieved by implementing
software asset management policies to set an example
Create Strong and Workable Enforcement
the private sector should follow.
Mechanisms as Required by TRIPS
Strong copyright laws are essential — but meaningless
without effective enforcement. Governments must fulfill
their obligations under the World Trade Organization’s
(WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights Agreement (TRIPS) by adopting and implement-
ing laws that meet international norms for IP rights
protection.

seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY 19

About BSA
Software and computers are indispensable tools of everyday life. They promote growth and
progress in many ways, from improving health care and making it more affordable, to saving energy,
improving student achievement, knitting together our diverse population and driving the overall
strength and vitality of our economy.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is the voice of the ANTI-PIRACY AND COMPLIANCE
world’s software industry and its hardware partners on a PROGRAMS
wide range of business and policy affairs. BSA’s mission is to
promote conditions in which the information technology (IT) The theft and illegal use of software and other forms of
industry can thrive and contribute to the prosperity, security intellectual property (IP) is a serious global problem. Software
and quality of life of all people. piracy strains technology companies’ ability to innovate
and create jobs, harms local IT services firms, saps govern-
BSA is the largest and most international IT industry group, ment tax revenues and increases the risk of cyber crime and
with policy, legal and/or educational programs in 80 coun- security problems.
tries. While several of BSA’s initiatives are global in scope,
most of its policy, legal, and educational efforts are led and BSA works to expand legal software markets on a global
conducted at the national level, with a growing emphasis on scale, with special attention to the world’s top emerging
emerging economies. markets. BSA does this through a combination of tactics:

BSA’s member companies are some of the most innovative Investigations and enforcement: BSA solicits and
companies in the world, investing billions of dollars a year in receives thousands of reports of alleged software piracy
local economies and delivering software solutions trusted by each year from end users, resellers, law enforcement,
billions of people to help them be more productive, member companies and affiliate associations. BSA in-
connected and secure. vestigates these tips and — when necessary and
appropriate — files civil lawsuits to stop software piracy.
PUBLIC POLICY BSA refers particularly egregious cases to national law
enforcement authorities for criminal prosecution.
BSA’s public policy programs are based on five broad
principles of economic leadership: Fighting Internet-based piracy: BSA uses the latest
technology to track the distribution of pirated software
Inspire creativity and innovation through comprehensive on the Internet via online auction sites, peer-to-peer
and enforceable intellectual property policies, including sites, and other Internet channels. Each year, BSA issues
copyright, patent and trademark laws. thousands of requests to Internet service providers and
website managers to remove pirated software from their
Foster an online marketplace where citizens and busi-
sites.
nesses use information tools with confidence, by making
certain that laws effectively prohibit and punish cyber Software asset management (SAM): BSA provides tools
crimes. and resources to help organizations manage software
in a way that reduces compliance risks and maximizes
Ensure that our nation produces and attracts the best
return on investment. BSA SAM Advantage is a long-
and brightest workforce through forward-looking
term effort to help companies move more easily toward
education and immigration policies.
lasting adoption of the global SAM standards published
Improve export opportunities for technology companies by the International Organization for Standardization
by eliminating trade barriers and discouraging the adop- (ISO).
tion of discriminatory public procurement practices.
Education: One of the most effective ways that BSA
Promote research, development and investment in next- prevents software piracy and the associated risks to
generation technologies to spur economic growth and society is by raising awareness of the negative impacts,
innovation across the economy. which it does through the news media, school and direct
outreach to affected communities.
BSA promotes these principles and specific policy objec-
tives through direct communications with policymakers and
influencers, as well as public education and collaboration
with interested parties.

20 seventh Annual BSA/IDC Global Software PIRACY STUDY

Business Software Alliance Global Offices WWW.BSA.ORG

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