Bottom Line: Piracy across the world is down, especially in high-piracy markets like Russia. Among nations that traditionally have lower privacy rates, there is also small decreases spurred by stronger regulations, increased globalization and DRM.

Among the nations studied, Russia led the way with a one-year drop of seven points to 73%, and a five-year drop of 14 points. Russia’s piracy rate is still high, but it is decreasing at a fast pace as a result of legalization programs, government engagement and enforcement, user education, and an improved economy.

Piracy Is Falling Fast

The three lowest-piracy countries were the United States (20%), Luxembourg (21%), and New Zealand (22%). The three highest-piracy countries were Armenia (93%), Bangladesh (92%), and Azerbaijan (92%).

Piracy rates dropped slightly in many low-piracy markets where rates have been stagnant for several years, including the United States (-1%), United Kingdom (-1%), and Austria (-1%). Many other developed economies experienced a continuing gradual decline, including Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, and Taiwan.

Market factors contributing to increasing piracy rates include: (1) dynamics in the PC market where the fastest growth is in the consumer and small business sectors; these are the hardest sectors in which to lower piracy; and (2) expanded Internet and broadband access. With approximately 700 million people expected to go online for the first time between 2008-2012, 76% of them will be in emerging markets. Access to pirated software will continue to shift from the streets to the Internet.

Market factors contributing to decreasing piracy rates include: (1) increasing globalization among countries in emerging markets; (2) technologies such as technical protection measures like digital rights management (DRM) which software developers are building directly into their products; (3) new software distribution models such as software-as-a-service.

(Image) (via Business Software Alliance)

If you enjoyed that why not find a job or read our guide to working in the 21st century. You can also join our Kiva team or hire me for your project.