- Britain’s The Economist has questioned the veracity (to be polite about it) of BSA statements which claimed losses down to counterfeits had increased from $29 billion to $33 billion, as we pointed out last month.
We’d previously believed the BSA (Business Software Alliance) used the same Number Dreamers employed by the movie and record label cartels to produced loss and other statistics. But No, said The Economist in BSA or just BS?
"The association's figures rely on sample data that may not be representative, assumptions about the average amount of software on PCs and, for some countries, guesses rather than hard data," it said. "Moreover, the figures are presented in an exaggerated way by the BSA and International Data Corporation (IDC), a research firm that conducts the study. They dubiously presume that each piece of software pirated equals a direct loss of revenue to software firms.
“To derive its piracy rate, IDC estimates the average amount of software that is installed on a PC per country, using data from surveys, interviews and other studies. That figure is then reduced by the known quantity of software sold per country-a calculation in which IDC specialises. The result: a (supposed) amount of piracy per country. Multiplying that figure by the revenue from legitimate sales thus yields the retail value of the unpaid-for software. This, IDC and BSA claim, equals the amount of lost revenue.”
Your article on software piracy was extreme, misleading and irresponsible (‘BSA or just BS?’, May 21st). The headline was particularly offensive. The implication that an industry would purposely inflate the rate of piracy and its impact to suit its political aims is ridiculous. The problem is real and needs no exaggeration.
Beth Scott Business Software Alliance London
So there! (Stamps foot)
See:- pointed out - BSA Shock Horror loss report, p2pnet, May 26, 2005 BSA spokeslady - Software piracy, June 9, 2005
