A new study issued by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) claims software piracy was responsible for losses to software companies of $53 billion. The report claims 41 percent of all computer software in the world was pirated last year, up from 38 percent in 2007.
The study, carried out by market research firm IDC for information technology-industry group Business Software Alliance, estimated the resulting losses to companies at $53 billion, though critics over the years have questioned how it reaches that figure.
Last year, the rates of software piracy dropped in around half of the 110 countries surveyed. China followed this general trend, and has seen its software piracy rate drop from 90% in 2004 to 80% last year, thanks to better enforcement and a government push to encourage the use of legitimate software in its computers.
