Software Piracy Rates by Country

[Jeff Mottle]

Thought this was interesting

 

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_sof_pir_rat-crime-software-piracy-rate

[AJLynn]

I'm actually slightly surprised that only 20% of US software installs are pirated. I wonder whether these numbers can be considered accurate... how do they get the numbers? You'd think if it were a poll, many people would lie.

[waleedss]

check for hour rates and you will find opposite rates. with rate 2$ per hour people can barely get machines . can you imagine they need to work for 1750 hours to get 3ds max (without life expense and plug-ins ).

I think software producers should think about fair regional prices to resist software piracy. can develop something like regional-limited licenses .I think they will have significant sales can cove prices drops (better than nothing anyways) .

[AJLynn]

I think people working at those low wages should rethink working for so little. It's bad enough without software companies endorsing those practices.

[SandmanNinja]

I do not see how this type of 'thing' can be measured.

I guess you could look at web sites that host torrents, and I'm guessing a lot of them would be HOSTED in marginal/questionable countries, but that doesn't really show WHERE the end users are located.

 

I know lots of people that routinely download stuff (music or t.v. shows) - was that factored into this?

[Tim Nelson]

I think people working at those low wages should rethink working for so little. It's bad enough without software companies endorsing those practices.

How does any software company endorse that?

People do what they need to do to survive. And companies decide whether it will make or lose money to pursue the folks that can't afford to purchase their software. Those are the bean counters.

[rygoody]

So you could say 60% of all autodesk products are pirated?

 

The thing about this, as previously mentioned, there is a large userbase, mostly in foreign countries obviously, who are very capable and honest 3D artists. But it comes down to a choice of pirating it and still eating, or not pirating it and not eating. So they have to pirate. And I really don't think this is anyones fault except Autodesk for not implementing a licensing scheme for a very significant, and capable section of their userbase. I'm sure if this userbase were capable of passing earnings to autodesk, they would for the convienence of fully licensed software that is up to date.

 

If autodesk implemented a '3D tax' pricing scheme, where you register and then like 10% of your income goes to them. They would be making alot more money.

[mi75]

like everyone else mentioned, Its interesting but what would be more interesting is how they measured it. Sure they could track IP's from torrent downloads to countries or even cities without a problem but what about the kids/adults at school who downloads Max or anything else and then passes it on to 10 of there mates etc..... I wonder if they get counted.

[Koper]

Have they even considered the country population size? Compared to the USA the people from Luxembourg must all be Criminals

[WAcky]

Have they even considered the country population size? Compared to the USA the people from Luxembourg must all be Criminals

 

That's why the measurements are done in percentages...

 

if 20% of the 500,000 ppl in luxembourg pirate one piece of software each, thats 100,000 ppl that have pirated software.

 

if 20% of the 300,000,000 ppl in the US pirate one piece of software each, thats 60,000,000 ppl that have pirated software.

 

The chart is based on percentages and not the total amount of pirated software, obviously...

Edited August 18, 2009 by WAcky

[Koper]

yes, obviously

 

the population is lower, so shouldn't that be considered to decrease the percentage?

[AJLynn]

How does any software company endorse that?

People do what they need to do to survive. And companies decide whether it will make or lose money to pursue the folks that can't afford to purchase their software. Those are the bean counters.

 

What I meant was, selling software in some countries for much less money than in other would be endorsing the devaluing of labor in those countries (along with helping the cheap outsourcing). If people in one country can buy 3DSMax for $10, and I can't, that's one more competitive advantage for the cheap countries. Autodesk couldn't make any money that way anyway, so they might as well not get into it at all.

[Tommy L]

tsk, those naughty Armenians.

[Koper]

tsk, those naughty Armenians.

 

hehehe, check out the link below. The piracy rate in Armenia is 93% but not even 6% of Armenia uses the internet (ok that was in 2007) but in 2 years time I doubt that much has changed.

 

http://ditord.com/2008/05/13/sad-statistics-of-armenias-internet-penetration/

 

don't ya just love the internet and the global knowledge;)

[Ernest Burden III]

The software industry is far too hung up on that segment of humanity who are the least likely to be paying customers. If you own a burger joint, how much of your time and money should you spend on luring in vegans? Software, Inc. has been on a never-ending quest to make what they sell as un-appealing to their customers as possible.

 

We, as those paying customers, just accept this and go out of our way to publicly support the companies that refuse to trust their own customers and implement systems to frustrate our lives and hinder our productivity. It's not my job to defend Autodesk or Adobe, just as they would not lift a finger or use their vast legal bullpens to stop anyone, let alone one of their clients, from using their software to violate my IP rights.

 

I'm very fond of Cinema4D, and it's maker, Maxon. But while I can have other pro programs like Zbrush and the Adobe Creative Suite legally installed on my workstation for in-studio work AND my laptop for work in the field, Maxon does not allow this. I have to buy a second copy at full price or buy a license-server application to 'share' my license between devices. I am one artist. But apparently the software is really for the computer to use, not the artist. Thanks, Maxon, way to respect me and the way I work.

 

If Autodesk and friends wants to turn themselves into the RIAA and launch a lawyer blitzkrieg on the developing world then they should just do it and stop whining to us about their woes. I am not a soldier in their war, though I do have their guns pointed at me at all times.

[Devin Johnston]

Those numbers don't surprise me, if anything it shows how useless all of the anti-piracy protection is. The fact is there is nothing they can do to stop piracy so like gun laws the only people their protection systems really affect are the paying (law abiding) customers. I also don't care how unaffordable this stuff is to 3rd worlders, they have no problem undercutting an entire industry why should I care if they have a hard time buying the tools to do it.

[Archiform 3D]

I do not see how this type of 'thing' can be measured.

 

It wouldn't be too hard. Software authors would have a god indication of how much relative use their stuff gets in a region and they know for sure how much they sold. For example, all the Chinese and Indians use Max. Autodesk would gauge the use of their software there, which is obviously high, and then also know they also only supplied between 8% to 18% of those licenses.

 

It wont be perfect, but pretty close.

[pailhead]

I think software producers should think about fair regional prices to resist software piracy. can develop something like regional-limited licenses .I think they will have significant sales can cove prices drops (better than nothing anyways) .

 

Then everyone would outsource to those regions, and this craft would die out in other regions... along with the more expensive software bundles.

[pailhead]

BTW. in this whole mess, the worst position to be in is a 3rd worlder who buys software....

 

 

Max here in Serbia costs twice as much than in the US. I bought vray for 700 euros (if memory serves me right), and then i found it on an american website for $700 (i think it coincided with 1:1.6 eur to $$$ ratio).

 

I'm under the impression that everything, except the rent here in Serbia, is more expensive than in the states.

 

For some time I had US clients exclusively, now i have none. Since i've stopped getting those, i tried to find some work here. I can't get a project here because no matter how much i cut my prices they are probably still too high.

 

What i find disgusting is the people here that complain about the low earnings here, and that try to justify the piracy issue with a Robbin' Hood style logic. I know one of them who was a pretty vocal Robbin' Hood supporter and who bought a condo here in Belgrade for cash. I should probably illustrate this with some real-estate surveys to show that it's not about peanuts here, but cold HARD bundles of cash, that could probably match prices anywhere in the world.

 

So it seems to me that i'm in the worst possible position.

 

I can't drive around in my max license. I can't eat my vray dongle. I can't snowboard on photoshop.

 

I can't undercut the developed market because my undercutting abilities have been undercut. I can't work for peanuts in my undeveloped market because i just... can't (although i'm considering working for cashew nuts).

 

I even tried picking up some girls at school, but they dig muscles, cars and bikes more than dongles and floating licences.

 

But i'm guess im the only 24yo architecture student in the 3rd world (although students pirate stuff everywhere) with a clear concience...

[pailhead]

I forgot to mention. Taxes, when you're based in the US, it's pretty much flat out, if you're a small company or a freelancer? 30%-40%, and if you buy computers, office furniture and software, you dig into that percentage, the rest is still your profit right?

 

 

Here, the client needs to pay up to 80% on top of your fee, or you need to pay for it yourself if you report your earnings from abroad. You can't cover any expenses from this, the only thing you can save is the VAT which is 18%, but you still have to buy all the tools from your profits.

[jophus14]

Wow. I am really surprised to see these numbers. If we thought that the US was having a hard time now with outsourcing, just imagine how it'll be when these other countries finally catch up to the sub-par rendering quality that many architects are happy with. We are screwed.

[WAcky]

yes, obviously

 

the population is lower, so shouldn't that be considered to decrease the percentage?

 

I'm not sure I get your point. Sorry

[Koper]

I'm not sure I get your point. Sorry

 

20% of a large pizza is not the same as 20% of a small pizza

[tayrona]

check for hour rates and you will find opposite rates. with rate 2$ per hour people can barely get machines .

can you imagine they need to work for 1750 hours to get 3ds max (without life expense and plug-ins ).

I think software producers should think about fair regional prices to resist software piracy. can develop something like regional-limited licenses .I think they will have significant sales can cove prices drops (better than nothing anyways) .

 

I agree about the "regional-limited licenses waleedss idea".. but I dont think that the rates are completely opposite.

 

I am sure we are not the first minds thinking about this, this topic must have been discussed by CEOS in autodesk meeting rooms, they love numbers and money.. and I am sure they must be finding the way... They would not sleep knowing that there is a huge amount of people needing their product and not been able to make them real buyers.

 

In my country there has been a lot of discussion around, and the fact is "people here -living, working and eating, in an underdeveloped country-

is NOT ABLE to buy autodesk and similar expensive software" -at least in a bussiness position- however there are institutions making big efforts to support little companies and individuals, and, under certain conditions, they help them to acquire software licenses. For example Proexport, a government agency that promotes the export has a special program that supports guilds or associations of little technological enterprises with export capabilities. I am talking about 30% to 40% subsidy, not only for sofware but also to get education that is a very expensive item here too.

 

If you check the statistics Jeff posted, Colombia is the Country with less piracy in Latinamerica, and there are countries above like Argentina, Mexico, Costa rica and Venezuela who has a low poverty index than us. So, in our case it is not directly related with poorness.

 

This topic must be assumed not only by software developers and buyers conscience.. this must be in the support government check lists too of course everybody must colaborate.

[tayrona]

I forgot:

 

What I meant was, selling software in some countries for much less money than in other would be endorsing the devaluing of labor in those countries (along with helping the cheap outsourcing).

If people in one country can buy 3DSMax for $10, and I can't, that's one more competitive advantage for the cheap countries.

Autodesk couldn't make any money that way anyway, so they might as well not get into it at all.

 

IMO: If an individual who makes renders for a living that is paying today $0 for software (because he/she get it free by piracy), then he/she bills according to that.

 

If he/she has the chance tomorrow to buy a max licence for $20.. then he/she will bill more.. sooo.. what is making them competitive?? yes, piracy.

 

I dont think that being able to get a license (although for less than other developed countries) will help the cheap outsourcing. I think it is going to work in the other way around.

 

Actually, Argentina and Uruguay are my best competitors, why do they bill so low?? check the numbers!

 

I really wish that people in underdeveloped countries would be able to buy software licenses for less.. it would bring a fair balance in the industry.