BSA: Software piracy hits all-time high

Andre Yoskowitz
12 May 2011 11:09

According to a new study from the BSA (Business Software Alliance), worldwide software piracy hit an all-time high in 2010, up to $59 billion worth.
That number was 14 percent higher than 2009 and 95 percent higher than 2003.

Says the group (via Cnet):

The software industry is being robbed blind. Nearly $59 billion worth of products were stolen last year--and the rates of theft are completely out of control in the world's fastest-growing markets.

The BSA has members from the software industry including all heavy hitters like Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec and McAfee.

As has been the trend for years, "emerging markets" accounted for most of the piracy, $32 billion worth in 2010.

Piracy rates jumped to 64 percent in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The Asian-Pacific region jumped to 60 percent, as well.

North America has the lowest piracy rate, again, at 21 percent.

The report does bring up an interesting fact, claiming that the most common form of piracy is a family who buys a single software license than installs it in all the computers in the home.