Internet Piracy

Generally, Internet piracy refers to the use of the Internet to provide downloadable copies of pirated software or to advertise and market pirated software that is delivered through other means. Internet piracy can also refer to the use of the Internet to transmit codes or other technologies to circumvent anti-copying security features in software products. Auction sites, Peer to Peer (P2P) networks, social networking sites, B2B websites and botnets are all common paths through which Internet piracy occurs.

Importantly, the same laws and license agreements that apply to software in physical distribution channels also apply to cyberspace and Internet transactions. The U.S. Copyright Act does not differentiate between offline and online infringement, and those found in breach of the law face penalties, including statutory damage awards of up to $150,000 per copyrighted work.

Software Piracy Data


View the Piracy Rate by Region

A number of factors contribute to regional differences in piracy — the strength of intellectual property protection, the availability of pirated software, and cultural differences. In addition, piracy is not uniform within a country; it varies from city to city, industry to industry and demographic to demographic. While efforts to cut piracy in large businesses may be successful, piracy can increase as a result of new users from small businesses entering the market for the first time.

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