Culture Survey Gaming &: Half of the World’s PCs Have Pirated Software by Chris Gayomali | September 7, 2011 | + Tweet Reuters Correction 07/09/11: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the BSA survey found the United States to have the highest rate of piracy in the world rather than China. Appropriate corrections have been made to reflect this.
According to a new survey conducted by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), 47% of PC users worldwide obtain their software illegally. The survey polled 15,000 users from 32 different countries and found that 13% still acquire their software through illegal means, such as peer-to-peer (like BitTorrent) or installing single-licensed software on multiple machines. Another 34% obtain their software illegally most of the time (Photos: A Brief History of the Computer).
The biggest offender? China, which led all 32 surveyed countries with 86% of its PC users obtaining software illegally all or most of the time. These users represent approximately 206 million PCs - twice as many as in second place, the United States Abercrombie Fitch - Women, and seven times more than third place, Brazil.
"The survey clearly shows that the global epidemic of software piracy is spreading more rapidly in China, which is now the world's largest market for new PCs," BSA president and CEO Robert Holleyman said on Phys.org. Click here to see more results in PDF form.
As we've noted previously, the World Trade Organization has already reprimanded China for their lax enforcement of copyright and patent laws. However, Chinese officials have declared that they are interested in reversing the trend and joining global crackdowns.
As for the United States? Six states, particularly Abercrombie Fitch France, are responsible for nearly half of all the country's downloads: Time in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Texas.
Poll: Why not take our own quick and informal survey (in complete confidentiality, of course): Take Our Poll [via Phys.org]
More:
- The 6 Worst States for Piracy in the United States
Chris is a journalist at the hour. Find him on Twitter at @chrigz, on Facebook Sale Abercrombie & Fitch, or on Google+. You can also continue the discussion on Time Facebook Page and on Twitter at @Time.
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