Eight states account for $4.2B loss to software piracy

The Business Software Alliance has released a study that concludes that the theft and use of illegal software in eight states—California, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, Arizona, Florida, New York and Texas—account for almost one-half of the nation’s revenues lost from pirated software last year. Out of 108 countries BSA studied, the United States had the lowest piracy rate in 2007. Still, one out of every five pieces of software used in this country is illegal. And because the United States is the world’s largest software market, it incurred more revenue losses from piracy than any other country. Software piracy in these eight states alone cost software vendors about $4.2 billion, which is higher than the national figure for all other countries in the world except China, the study said. The losses caused a ripple effect in local... [read full story]