2007 US State Piracy Study

BSA State by State Software Piracy Study

2007 State Piracy Report Of the 108 countries studied in the annual study of PC software piracy around the world, conducted by IDC, the United States had the lowest piracy rate in 2007. Even so, one out of five pieces of software put into service in the US is still illegal. And because the US is the largest software market in the world, it incurred more revenue losses from piracy than any other country—estimated at more than $8 billion.

To help understand PC software piracy within the US—and its effects on state economies—the BSA requested IDC to develop 2007 piracy rates for a number of representative states within the United States. These were:

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Florida
  • Illinois
  • Nevada
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Texas

Six of the states were chosen because they are the states from which the BSA receives the most piracy reports from the general public, while two others (Arizona and Nevada), were chosen to round out geographical coverage. The eight states account for 46% of the combined PC and PC software market, but 52% (or $4.2B) of the total piracy losses in the US.  In addition to the foregone revenue, software piracy also means tech jobs are not created—more than 54,000 in the eight states—and $3.2 billion in associated 2007 tax revenues are lost, including enough state and local taxes to build 100 middle schools or hire nearly 25,000 experienced police or fire personnel.

Trends that tend to lower PC software piracy include strong law enforcement, consumer education, advanced digital rights technology, vendor deals with original equipment manufacturers and distributors, special legalization programs, and effective software asset management programs. These have proven to be fundamental pillars through which various countries have begun to have a lasting and positive effect toward decreasing overall levels of software piracy. This study sheds more light on the local drivers of software piracy as well as the economic and social impacts.

National Press Release: Lost Revenues from Software Piracy in Eight States Would Have Been Enough to Fund 54,000 High Tech Workers, Build 100 Schools or Hire 25,000 Police Officers

State Press Releases:


BSA North America & Latin America Contact

Rodger Correa
202.872.5140
rodgerc@bsa.org