Executive Summary

Despite the most significant global recession in over 20 years, 2009 proved to be a surprisingly
good year in the fight against software piracy. Conventional wisdom led many to believe that the
recession would drive personal computer (PC) users to deploy more unlicensed software simply
to save money, but the results of the 2009 Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC Global PC
Software Piracy Study show that momentum from years of anti-piracy programs held firm through
the economic downturn.

In 2009, installations of unlicensed software on PCs
dropped in 54 of the 111 individual economies studied,
and rose in only 19. It is clear that anti-piracy education and
enforcement campaigns spearheaded in recent years by the
software industry, national and local governments, and law
enforcement agencies continue to have a positive impact in
driving legal purchases and use of PC software.
Nevertheless, software piracy remains an urgent issue: the
global PC software piracy rate rose in 2009 to 43%, up two
percentage points over the previous year. This means that
for every $100 worth of legitimate software sold in 2009, an
additional $75 worth of unlicensed software also made its
way into the market.
The 2009 BSA/IDC Global PC Software Piracy Study identified
a number of trends in the use and impact of unlicensed
PC software:
The overall piracy rate increased from 41% in 2008 to
43% in 2009 — largely a result of PC sales and software
installations growing much faster in higher piracy,
emerging economies than in more mature markets with
lower piracy rates.
In 2009, unlicensed PC software use dropped in 49%
of the economies studied, stayed the same in 34%
and rose in 17%.
The value of unlicensed software hit $51.4 billion, a 3%
decrease from 2008. However, in real terms and factoring
in adjustments for exchange rates, the value of
unlicensed software stayed the same in 2009 as 2008.
Where losses did grow, it was almost entirely the result
of growing software markets in higher piracy economies.
Forces driving piracy down in many economies included
vendor legalization programs, government education,
enforcement actions and technology shifts, such as increased
deployment of digital rights management (DRM).
Forces driving piracy up included the rapid growth of
the consumer PC market, activity in the base of older
computers where unlicensed software is more prevalent,
and increasing sophistication of online criminals leveraging
the internet and other new means of distribution.
Economies with the lowest software piracy rates remain
the United States, with a piracy rate of 20%, and Japan
and Luxembourg, both with a piracy rate of 21%. Economies
with the highest piracy rates include Georgia,
Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Moldova, each with a rate
above 90%.


Table of contents
Piracy in 2009 — and the Impact of the Recession.....3
PIRACY RAT E DYNAMICS —
2009 WAS DIFFERENT.............. 5
BENEFITS OF LOWERING PIRACY......................................13
BSA/IDC GLOBAL PC SOFTWARE PIRACY STUDY
METHODOLOGY.............................................................. 16
BSA BLUEPRINT FOR REDUCING SOFTWARE PIRACY.........19
ABOUT BSA....................................................................20