- Honest guv... some bloke gave me this shiney disk thingy in da pub the other night and said it was all registered and all, give it a "whirl"...
The software piracy rate in Ireland remains static at 42%. A piracy rate of 42% means that almost one in every two business software programs installed in Ireland is an illegal copy.
Commenting on the findings Julian McMenamin, Chairman of BSA Ireland said, "The lack of improvement on Ireland's piracy rate can be attributed to the proliferation of Internet piracy (as it provides an alternative distribution channel for pirated software) and a certain amount of apathy. But whatever the excuse, a piracy rate of 42% is appalling. Although the current business environment is difficult, companies must appreciate the value of software and ensure sound software asset management procedures are put in place. It is obvious that bolder measures will have to be taken to combat the continuing problem of piracy in Ireland."
As a comparison to the rest of Europe, at 42% Ireland shares the same piracy rate as Portugal and our closest neighbors, the UK, has a piracy rate of 26%. Denmark enjoys the lowest piracy rate in Europe at 24%.
News source: UTVLive
View: BSA Ireland Press Release
Of course, Apple's Music Store uses one-click purchasing licensed from Amazon, so there's something of a technology fit already. Then again, that may be the only connection between the two companies and the only basis for the alleged negotiations.
That Apple is going to offer the service to Windows users, complete with iTunes software, suggests that the service is viewed by the company as a revenue generator and not a tool to attract buyers to the Mac platform. Since Apple is already sending 65 cents per 99 cent download to the music industry, it might not be all that keen on sharing any of the remaining 35 cents with Amazon.
Then again, a co-branded deal with Amazon would expose Apple to more customers - PC or otherwise - than it might reach on its own, and would give it a useful bargaining tool to achieve other outcomes, such as replacing Amazon's current Windows Media and RealPlayer downloads with QuickTime/iTunes versions
Honest guv... some bloke gave me this shiney disk thingy in da pub the other night and said it was all registered and all, give it a "whirl"...
I don't see that in the two links at all, and as an Irish person I find that offensive.Especially the generalization about everyone goes and drinks.
I'm Irish too, and so is me101. One of the great things about being Irish lies in our ability to laugh at ourselves and not take things seriously. The quote was a mere light-hearted piece of humour, and should be treated as such. With regards to piracy, it really is an epidemic at this stage in Ireland.
The fact of the matter is that software costs alot because it costs alot to make and produce on all levels, and I don't want anyone to try and tell me otherwise.
The mere fact that the piracy rate has not gone down like other countries either shows a number of things... either the authorities are not doing their part in getting piracy out of business, or... software is so overpriced thus driving businesses and the likes to get the readily available software from "paddy" in the local pub or other unnamed places... for 50 quid (or 50 euros nowadays!!!) and are par-taking in the long tradition of "try before you buy" software license... only thing is that they usually try the software and "forget"... to follow through on the "buy" part of the equation... must be those few pints at lunch time that is dulling the senses!!!
It's been a while since I've been back to my homeland (and going back in a few weeks
These days with broadband connections at home, work or at uni, in cities like Belfast, Dublin, Cork etc... , downloading software and burning it to CD is child's play for the pirates, it's freely available on the net. The only cost is the blank CD-R's and the time to have some 2nd cousin of paddy john twice removed sitting at a high speed connection to download the files and put them onto a fire wire hard drive (for later duplication) or just even burn them to CD for later duplication and circulation en-mass...
Oh yea, and remember, there's quite a large chunk of money to be made at piracy... not sure exactly how much is being made, but it sure is lining the pockets of certain groups that's for sure... I once "heard" of a CD software and music duplication factory getting raided by a joint RUC/Gardia operation, to combat piracy... only dented them for a short while...
Getting your hands on illegal software in Ireland is not that hard, someone always knows someone... It's that type of place...
Until software from the major suppliers (Microsoft take note...) gets cut in price quite a bit, piracy will always be with us, no matter where in the world you live!
It's cheaper for "Paddy's Food Market" to get the software for a small price from his cousin's friend, local pub or go to a certain weekend market, rather than get a the software from a software supplier in Ireland and pay 10 times the price. In these tough economic times, no-one will ever know that you got software that fell of a dodgy and speed internet connection... Who's going to tell... ?
Unless the BSA come knockin on your door, I'd say that there could even be more that 42% of businesses that are using pirated software, and this likely goes across the board in other countries, it's an educated guess... Somehow we'll never know just how bad the piracy is, we can only make rough estimates.
Ehhh. That's right, the apathy over there is appalling. The piracy rate should be higher!
:p I'm sure that's not the impression the BSA is exactly going for, but its the way I see it ;D
Im so dumbfounded I can't think of anything worthwhile to type in reply.
ho hum.
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