Reality Check : Rethinking the Global Software Piracy Problem

This study examines the complex dynamics of the international software piracy problem by focusing on the size of revenue losses made from pirated software. Although a considerable number of cross-national studies have focused on software piracy, there is a widespread but incorrect perception in the policy and academic landscape that ineffective copyright protection of computer software is prevalent mostly in less developed countries with low-income, ineffective legal systems and collectivist culture. By using the estimated value of revenues lost to software piracy as an alternative indicator, this study empirically disproves the conventional understanding of the piracy problem. Our empirical investigation of the impact of various national factors on the per capita value of pirated software confirmed that the present piracy phenomenon in the international market is complex and multi-faceted, involving multiple factors within a nation’s economic, technological and industry-specific capabilities