Software Piracy

Software Piracy
Software piracy is very costly to companies and the whole economy in general. According to Business Software Alliance is that 20% of the entire software installations are pirated. According to the company, Microsoft lost $58.8 billion in 2010 globally due to software piracy (Norwood 257). These pirated copies cost the software industry billions of dollars each year. Microsoft is a company that has continued to suffer due to software piracy. Many people acquire its software illegally from the internet and other piracy sources at a lower price. Business Software Alliance (BSA) is an organization that published this information. BSA is a chief advocate in regards to the global software industry. This trade group was created in 1988 by Microsoft Inc. The company serves to represent many big software makers around the world (Zamoon 15).
The information given by this company can be trusted since it has the mandate and power to produce such information. The company acts as a watchdog and therefore keeps its focus on fighting piracy in the software industry. The company has a role in educating computer users on software piracy so as to ensure that they purchase original and legal software from companies that create than rather than from pirates (Craig 20). The information can be trusted since this company conducts research for various large companies involved in the software business.
Since Microsoft Corporation created the company, it is biased since it tries to concentrate more on what happens to Microsoft’s software.

The company produces less information regarding video piracy of other companies in the same industry.
The company got the number of software piracy and cost regarding Microsoft from the Microsoft’s management team. The first assumption that this company is using is that many youths do not buy legal software since they think that it is legal. The second assumption is that legal software is cheap compared to pirated software (El-Bialy 533). Another assumption is that many people do not know that piracy is illegal. The company collects the information by conducting interviews with various customers. The information is not accurate since most people that buy pirated software cannot confess about it.
Works Cited
Craig, P P, Ron Honick, and Mark Burnett. Software Piracy Exposed. Norwood Mass: Books24x7.com, 2005. Internet resource.
El-Bialy, Nora, Antonio Rodríguez Andrés, and Ronia Hawash. ” “Explaining Software Piracy using a New Set of Indicators.” .” Journal of the Knowledge Economy 7.2 (2016): 526-544.
Norwood, Punani E. “Consumer v. Copyright: Balance in an Era of Digital Rights Management.” UMKC L. Rev. 83 (2014): 257.
Zamoon, Shariffah. . Software Piracy: Neutralization Techniques That Circumvent Ethical Decision-Making. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2000. Internet resource.