Software Piracy Shows Small Decline in U.S.

A new study shows that software piracy is on the decline in the United States, but it

remains a problem that is dragging on the economy and costing jobs.

The U.S. piracy rate dropped two points from 2001, going from 25 percent to 23 percent,

according to a new report from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a Washington,

D.C.-based international organization representing software developers. BSA reports that

software piracy cost the U.S. $1.9 billion last year, up from $1.8 billion in 2001.

Last year’s piracy rate reportedly resulted in more than 105,000 lost jobs. Industry

analysts generally agree that piracy depletes available funding for software research and

development, causing layoffs in the industry and billions of dollars in lost wages and tax

revenues.

”It is encouraging news that the U.S. piracy rate has dropped two points from 2001, but

there is no acceptable level of piracy,” says Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of BSA.

”We attribute this decrease to BSA’s expanding educational initiatives, our work with

governments and our efforts to emphasize to U.S. businesses the need for effective internal

software asset management programs.”

This report upholds a recent BSA study that showed that software piracy has declined around

the world, decreasing 10 points over the past eight years. The piracy rate for commercial

software dipped down to 39 percent in 2002, compared to an all-time high of 49 percent in

1994.

The study shows that worldwide, every country except Zimbabwe has reduced its piracy rate

since 1994, the first year the study was done.

The Alliance study shows that the Middle East and Africa, as a region, are showing the

highest rate of improvement. The region had an 80 percent rate in 1994, but that number

dropped to 49 percent in 2002. The most improved country is the United Arab Emirates with a

50-point drop, taking them from 86 percent in ’94 to 36 percent last year.

Eastern Europe holds onto the infamous rank of having the highest piracy rate. It came in

with 85 percent eight years ago and today shows a 71 percent rate. Despite being at the top

of the list, it is the fourth most improved region.

The new BSA report also listed the states with the most improved software piracy rates in

2002.

Louisiana came in the top spot with a 14-percent drop, going from 44.6 percent in 2001 to

30.6 percent last year. Maine holds the second spot with a 11.1 percent drop, going from a

rate of 44 percent in 2001 to 32.9 percent in 2002. Oregon, West Virginia and Idaho rounded

out the top five.

The top five states with the lowest piracy rates in 2002 are: Illinois, Michigan, Ohio,

Indiana, New York. Washington is one of the top 10 states with the lowest piracy rates and

also has one of the most improved piracy rates from 2001 to 2002.

RELATED NEWS AND ANALYSIS

• Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  December 04, 2020

• Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  November 18, 2020

• Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA

  FEATURE |  By Guest Author,
  November 10, 2020

• Top 10 AIOps Companies

  FEATURE |  By Samuel Greengard,
  November 05, 2020

• What is Text Analysis?

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  November 02, 2020

• How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 29, 2020

• Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 23, 2020

• The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 16, 2020

• Top 10 Chatbot Platforms

  FEATURE |  By Cynthia Harvey,
  October 07, 2020

• Finding a Career Path in AI

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  October 05, 2020

• CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science

  FEATURE |  By Guest Author,
  September 25, 2020

• Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 25, 2020

• Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2020

  FEATURE |  By Cynthia Harvey,
  September 22, 2020

• NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 18, 2020

• Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By James Maguire,
  September 14, 2020

• Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By James Maguire,
  September 13, 2020

• IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 11, 2020

• Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality

  FEATURE |  By James Maguire,
  September 09, 2020

• Anticipating The Coming Wave Of AI Enhanced PCs

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 05, 2020

• The Critical Nature Of IBM’s NLP (Natural Language Processing) Effort

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  August 14, 2020