Software pirates illegally shared $1bn worth of software
on BitTorrent P2P networks in the first half of 2009, says the
Business Software Alliance (BSA).
The BSA said in its 2009
Internet Piracy Report published today that individuals were
turning to peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and auction sites in
"staggering numbers" to acquire or transfer illegal software.
"In doing so they are harming the economy while exposing
themselves to malware, identity theft and criminal prosecution, the
alliance said.
Based on results from its in-house internet "crawler", BSA
requested the removal of almost 103,000 Torrent files from nine of
the largest BitTorrent hosting sites worldwide.
"These Torrent files were being used by nearly 2.9 million
individuals to download software with a retail value of more than
$974 million," the BSA said.
The BSA used its Online Auction Tracking System (OATS), a
proprietary tool to monitor auction sites and BitTorrent networks
continuously.
In the first half of 2009, BSA issued almost 2.4 million
takedown notices related to P2P and BitTorrent file sharing, an
increase of more than 200% over the same period in 2008.
BSA issued around 19,000 takedown requests over illegal
auctions, in the first half of 2009, a 4% increase on the same
period last year.
The BSA also found that regions with high rates of software
piracy also suffered from high rates of malware.
The BSA's senior director of legal affairs Jenny Blank said P2P
networks were ideal for distributing materials that can be legally
shared with large groups and were a tool used by more businesses to
enhance productivity.
"Unfortunately, P2P technology is also a favourite channel for
software pirates who see it as the perfect channel through which to
distribute illegal and potentially dangerous software," she
said.
"Software piracy is a threat on multiple fronts. Pirated
software can be a breeding ground for malware and can also open
users up to crimes such as identity theft. Those who decide to
acquire illegal software harm the economy and companies of all
sizes. Moreover, those who engage in piracy open themselves up to
civil and criminal prosecution," said Blank.
The report, entitled Software Piracy on the Internet: A Threat
To Your Security, coincides with National Cyber Security Awareness
Month, which began last week.
It also details some successful software piracy prosecutions.
The largest case it reported was in China, where the government
shut down and convicted the leaders of tomatolei.com, a Web site
that offer free downloads of massive quantities of illegal software
originally published by Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft, and
Symantec.
Others to suffer were Tommy Rushing, sentenced to three years in
federal prison for copyright infringement linked to four for-profit
web sites that offered pirated copies of Adobe and Macromedia
software, and Timothy Dunaway, who got 41 months for selling
counterfeit software through 40 different web sites.
A district court in Taiwan sentenced two individuals to six
months' jail for illegal copying of software, while Hungarian
authorities seized some 250 terabytes of illegal content stored on
43 servers from an illegal software distribution company.