Software makers are reporting that piracy is becoming a more significant problem than ever before. According to a report by the BSA | The Software Alliance, 37% of software installed on personal computers is unlicensed. The commercial value of this unlicensed software totals an estimated $46.3 billion globally. Florian Le Borgne, Director of Sales and Marketing at Nexedi, stated that piracy is a “much bigger problem than ever before,” noting that even with permissive open-source licenses, some customers attempt to avoid paying for commercial versions and support.

Le Borgne recalled an incident where a customer used Nexedi’s free ERP5 software but then demanded free enterprise-level support, asserting it was their “right.” This reflects a broader trend of users expecting free services even for commercial-grade applications.

Developer Experiences with Modern Piracy

Major tech companies are also experiencing issues with software piracy. Toby Kau, a Senior Software Architect at ASUS, confirmed the company is aware of large organizations pirating its ProArt creator software. ASUS currently employs countermeasures such as watermarking on trial versions of its software, though Kau acknowledged that sophisticated pirates are capable of removing them. In response to these challenges, ASUS is considering the implementation of cloud-based licensing models as a more robust solution to verify legitimate users.

The Link Between Pirated Software and Malware Threats

The use of unlicensed software is directly connected to increased cybersecurity risks. The BSA’s research found a strong and direct correlation between the rates of unlicensed software use and the frequency of malware encounters. Pirated software packages are often bundled with malicious code, such as viruses and ransomware, which can lead to significant data loss and security breaches for both individuals and businesses. This connection underscores that the financial cost of piracy extends beyond lost revenue for developers to include the costs associated with cleaning up malware infections and recovering from security incidents.

Anti-piracy measures have evolved over time, from digital rights management (DRM) to the now more common software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. Cloud-based licensing and SaaS subscriptions make it more difficult for software to be pirated, as they often require users to connect to company servers for verification.