Business Software Alliance makes antipiracy push

The Business Software Alliance continues to battle distribution of pirated software on peer-to-peer and auction sites.

The trade group served more than 48,000 "takedown" notices related to BitTorrent files in the first half of this year and says BSA members lost an estimated $525 million in sales as a result of peer-to-peer piracy, according to a new BSA report called "Online Software Scams: A Threat to Your Security."

During the first half of this year BSA asked auction site providers to shut down more than 18,000 auctions in which 45,000 products, worth $22 million, were being sold, the report says.

The piracy problem on auction sites is so bad that the Software and Information Industry Association has said it was considering suing eBay.

The BSA warns consumers that buying pirated software can lead to software incompatibility and viruses, increased maintenance costs with no technical support, as well as identity fraud and privacy breaches.

One in five U.S. consumers who bought software online in 2006 reported problems, in a survey conducted by Forrester Research on behalf of the BSA. More than half received software that was not what they ordered; 36 percent said the software didn't work; 14 percent realized immediately that the product was pirated; and 12 percent never received what they ordered, according to the survey.

"Although consumers may think they are getting a great deal when they buy software from unfamiliar sources online, it is more likely they will receive a substandard product with hidden cybersecurity threats that may expose them to identity theft and the loss of thousands of dollars," the report says.

(Credit: BSA)

[jumpjetta]

F.U.D.... gotta fear those sub-standard (read - you didn't sign away your first- and second-born for them) copies of software. It might just trash your hard drive, steal your left shoe size, and burn your toast.

How else are they going to stop piracy besides fear?

[Lerianis]

Fact is.... most of those things are VERY safe. I've 'pirated' software before (read: not paid twice for the new version of a software package like Nero) and it is VERY safe, as long as the product in question only needs a serial number.

[Pishkado]

The BSA would have a lot more credibility if it stopped using bogus figures for the damage done by pirated software. They assume that everyone who uses a bootleg copy of anything would have otherwise bought it for full retail list price, which is patently absurd, and that money saved by not buying legal software is discarded with no economic benefit to anyone, which is equally so. A bit more objectivity on their part would go a long way toward getting folks on board with their agenda.

[magicmaster]

what else does BSA do beside scaring people with unscientific study and survey? How would I trust other researchers who are sponsored by BSA to report accurate and precise information? Think of tobacco companies hiring researchers to prove their products not harmful, you will immiedately grasp my points.

BSA is one of the copyright rogues, along with RIAA and MPAA. They profited from suing people and nothing else.

[Maccess]

I can't see why anyobody would bother to pirate software - on your licensed windows use OpenOffice.org or go to osswin.sourceforge.net or download a whole CD of FREE Open Source Software for Windows at http://www.ttcsweb.org/osswin-cd/ or get a free linux/BSD operating system.