BSA Report Finds Software Piracy Rates in Nigeria Remain Stagnant
Value of PC software theft in the region totals more than $251 million in 2011
The commercial value of unlicensed software installed on personal computers in Nigeria reached $251 million in 2011 as 82 percent of software deployed on PCs during the year was pirated. This rate remains unchanged from 2010, and stands at almost double the global piracy rate for PC software, which is 42 percent. These are among the findings of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) 2011 BSA Global Software Piracy Study, which evaluates the state of software piracy around the world.
Report findings indicate that current efforts to address the significant negative impact of piracy on the Nigerian economy need to be continued and maximised. In the last eight years, since 2003, the piracy rates in the country have dropped a total of 2 percent, down from 84 percent in 2004.
“If 82 percent of consumers admitted they shoplift — even rarely —authorities would react by increasing police patrols and penalties. Software piracy demands a similar response: concerted public education and vigorous law enforcement,” said Dale Waterman, Corporate Attorney for Anti-Piracy for the Middle East and Africa region at Microsoft, a member of the BSA.
The gradual progress many countries are making in lowering piracy rates across the world demonstrates the value of sustained anti-piracy efforts that build equity over time. The BSA confirmed that there are proven steps that governments around the world can take to effectively reduce software theft:
- Increase public education and raise awareness about software piracy and IP rights in cooperation with industry and law enforcement.
- Modernize protections for software and other copyrighted materials to keep pace with new innovations such as cloud computing and the proliferation of networked mobile devices.
- Strengthen enforcement of IP laws with dedicated resources, including specialized enforcement units, training for law enforcement and judiciary officials and improved cross-border cooperation among law enforcement agencies.
- Lead by example by using only fully licensed software, implementing software asset management (SAM) programs, and promoting the use of legal software in state-owned enterprises, and among all contractors and suppliers.
“Our experience around the world suggests that when the Government becomes actively involved in driving long-term educational and awareness initiatives and taking appropriate enforcement action to ensure that those that pirate face real penalties, then significant reductions in software piracy rates become a reality for a country. This will benefit the entire IT ecosystem in Nigeria,” said Dale Waterman.
“Software piracy persists as a drain on the global economy, IT innovation and job creation,” said BSA president and CEO Robert Holleyman. “Governments must take steps to modernize their IP laws and expand enforcement efforts to ensure that those who pirate software face real consequences.”
Globally, the study finds that piracy rates in emerging markets tower over those in mature markets — 68 percent to 24 percent, on average — and emerging markets account for an overwhelming majority of the global increase in the commercial value of software theft. This helps explain the market dynamics behind the global software piracy rate, which hovered at 42 percent in 2011 while a steadily expanding marketplace in the developing world drove the commercial value of software theft to $63.4 billion.
Other findings from this year’s BSA Global Software Piracy Study include:
- Globally, the most frequent software pirates are disproportionately young and male — and they are more than twice as likely to live in an emerging economy as they are to live in a mature one (38 to 15 percent).
- Business decision makers admit to pirating software more frequently than other users — and they are more than twice as likely as others to say they buy software for one computer and then install it on additional machines in their offices.
- Globally, there is strong support for IP rights and protections in principle, but a troubling lack of incentive for pirates to change their behavior in practice. Just 20 percent of frequent pirates in mature markets — and 15 percent in emerging markets — say the risk of getting caught is a reason not to pirate software.
This is the ninth annual study of global software piracy conducted by BSA in partnership with IDC and Ipsos Public Affairs, two of the world’s leading independent research firms. The study methodology involves collecting 182 discrete data inputs and assessing PC and software trends in 116 markets. This year’s study also included a survey of 15,000 computer users in 33 countries that together constitute 82 percent of the global PC market.
A full copy of the 2011 BSA Global Software Piracy Study, including country-specific data, is available for download on BSA’s website: www.bsa.org/globalstudy.
About BSA
The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the leading global advocate for the software industry. It is an association of nearly 100 world-class companies that invest billions of dollars annually to create software solutions that spark the economy and improve modern life. Through international government relations, intellectual property enforcement and educational activities, BSA expands the horizons of the digital world and builds trust and confidence in the new technologies driving it forward.
