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Software Industry Shifting Piracy Strategy

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the in-the-crosshairs dept.

Sensible Clod writes "The U.S. software industry's strategy against global software piracy is shifting to focus on claimed economic benefits of copyright protection in response to a new study released by the BSA, according to an article at Internet News. The study concluded that countries with high software piracy rates have more to gain economically by protecting intellectual property rights. The study even claims potential global gains of '2.4 million new jobs, $400 billion in economic growth and $67 billion in new tax revenues' by cutting the current global software piracy rate of 35% by 10%."

3 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. Lunatics take over Assylum, declare selves insane. by Hosiah · · Score: 0, Redundant
    "How will they convince people that being anti-piracy is profitable?" The same way they put it over that somebody who loved you anyway REALLY loves you just because they gave you a lump of compressed carbon to wear on your finger: advertizing! It worked to convince half of you that a $200 operating system is cheaper than a free one. It was all that was needed to convince you that a $2000 developer's studio was more viable than a free one. Feed it through a spin doctor, and the magic art of *lying* *convincingly* will have you thinking freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength and that it actually matters which crook you vote for.

    As for the people who openly admit to piracy anyway, you're not looking too hot yourself. If there were no alternative, I'd not only advocate stealing, but take over the whole damn building and shove the CEOs off the balcony, while you're at it being a pirate: get your eyepatch and your parrot and do it all the way! But free software *is* out there, and it's not just struggling along, it's coming out *on* *top* in many ways - so now how do you explain that rather than use the free alternative (which you can even rewrite to your liking and SELL), you'd instead steal the pay-stuff?

    Why not just use the free software and cut both the suit-and-tie crooks and the pirate crooks out of the equation altogether? Because regardless of how you got it, USING the stolen stuff profits the corporation ANYWAY. (It's publicity for them: "So good people steal it!", It drives other people to go out and buy it to be compatible with what you use. It perpetuates the fallacy that their product is worth anything at all.) You're busting your ass to support a system which you show, by your own actions, you don't believe in!

    Final score: Corporations: (-1), Consumers: (-1). Hey, boys? The field is *that* way.

  2. Re:Software Piracy Rate? by Zangief · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Why should they choose Gimp over Photoshop?, Both programs have the same cost for pirates: 0 dollars.

  3. from the 'no shit shelock' department by SQLz · · Score: 0, Redundant

    The study concluded that countries with high software piracy rates have more to gain economically by protecting intellectual property rights.