Software piracy: Rising or falling?

The Business Software Alliance has reported that although piracy of software on personal computers declined in many countries in 2007, fast-growing PC markets in some of the world's highest piracy nations caused overall numbers to worsen. The annual global software study said this trend is expected to continue, with dollar losses last year from piracy having risen $8 billion to nearly $48 billion.

But Ars Technica is questioning the BSA conclusions, suggesting the data shows that the situation is not quite as bad as claimed. It says the data reflects "only a bare handful of countries'' reporting "even a tiny gain in piracy rate.''

It also questions how BSA arrives at its figures, suggesting the survey uses flawed methodology. "The real news here, despite the BSA's best attempts to hide it, is the steadily falling piracy rates across any number of nations in the world,'' it said.

To read more:
- see this Ars Technica article
- also see the BSA study