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PC Software Piracy Decreases Worldwide, But Remains Rampant (torrentfreak.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A new report published by The Software Alliance shows that usage of pirated PC software is decreasing worldwide. While this is a positive trend for the industry, piracy remains rampant in many countries. This includes Libya, where a massive 90 percent of all software is used without permission.
I bought legal copies of Windows 9 from ebay for all my machines, so I didn't have to pirate software. Just had to wait until they were shipped in from Hong Kong.
... are the tech industry, the videogame industry especially with the rise of the internet is basically making broken fraudulent/products and upping the corporate propaganda campaign to sell microtransactions and loot boxes and that requires basically stealing the software. Diablo 3, starcraft 2 and now even starcraft 1 with the latest patch now have drm in them - aka - the software you paid for now requires permission from another computer and violates your privacy at the same time.
No thanks the mass of tech illiterate idiots that came online high speed internet.
I don't think paying $50 to $70 for a game released on first day is that outrageous, depending on the game. Lots of games now can occupy your time for weeks, if not months. The are not the simple jump and shoot games from the 80/90's. A great deal of them are open ended games with constant updates and expansions being release.
What I do think is outrageous is them continuing to charge $60 and $70 for a game that has been out for 2 or 3 years. GTAV on the PC is my example. I also have a beef with them charging you 50 bucks for a game then charging you 10 a month to continue to play it.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
If you look at pages 17 through 19 (inclusive, of the actual report), you'll find some very fine prose that the BSA use to describe the methodology they follow for determining the amount of unlicensed software.
... ... Respondents are asked how many software packages, and what type, were installed on their PC in the previous year; what percentage were new or upgrades; whether they came with the computers or not; and whether they were installed on a new computer or one acquired prior to 2017..."
It's utter garbage.
It's about as accurate as a weather forecast could be. It contains English-language "formulae" such as:-
Unlicensed Rate = Unlicensed Software Units / Total Software Units Installed
and Total Software Units Installed = #PCs Getting Software x Software Units per PC
Just look at that second formula for a moment. This is an approximation at best. But the absolute worst part of the report is the part in which the BSA explain how they get these numbers. This is, in fact, done for them by IDC. And here is the methodology:-
A key component of the BSA Global Software Survey is a global survey of more than 22,500 home and enterprise PC users, conducted by IDC in November 2017. The survey was conducted online or by phone in 32 markets that make up a globally representative sample of geographies, levels of IT sophistication and geographic and cultural diversity....
So let's just translate that.
1. This survey was based on evidence from a telephone survey.
2. People were called and asked to accurately remember what software had been installed on a computer in the preceding 12 months.
3. The result of a survey of 22,500 people was then extrapolated up to represent the entire world's software piracy problem.
We need to remember that this sort of document gets handed around the halls of government and shown to policy makers; the poor data samples, invalid questions, wild speculations, and sloppy calculations that form the heart of this paper then get used as the basis for legislation. Don't get me wrong - software piracy is wrong. With so much fabulous free and open source software available, there really is no excuse for it any more.
But it's important to remember that this sort of paper is going to be used to argue for ever-more Draconian laws which will restrict the freedoms of ordinary computer users. It's really important that documents like this get properly challenged and that legislators are left clearly understanding that this report belongs in the fiction section of the bookshop...