TechWag

Fascinating report out of PC World today that the BSA, The Business Software Alliance, is stating that piracy numbers are down amongst the younger generation. Not only it is down, but the question about parents that has been plaguing many people, has also been answered.

While piracy is something that everyone has to deal with either through inflated prices for goods, or running risks that might land someone in jail or fined, it might be that the reporting, hunting down, and fining of people on the software side is starting to show some results. Those results might even be translated into lower prices or better yet, a transformation in the industry where society has addressed the ethical implications of stealing software.

Overall though if you read the survey data here and here, it is more about fear of getting a virus, or fear of legal issues rather than anything else. Although we would also be willing to forward that open source who’s tools and independent media might also be catching on. As well, the plethora of streaming video sites with much more immediate return on time are also factors that might not have shown up in the survey.

The study indicates there may be a wide difference between how kids who have parental oversight with online activities act online versus those that don’t. The report suggests that 52 percent of those without parental rules have downloaded software, compared to 19 percent that have such rules, and that 47 percent without parental rules download music software without paying, versus 16 percent with rules. Source: PCWorld

One of the things that we also think is going to have a larger influence on this is that streaming TV, Streaming Radio, projects like Joost and the eventual Pirate Bay offering also changes the nature of downloading into something that you have immediate satisfaction on. Rather than waiting hours or even days to get the file, it is so much more immediate to find cool stuff that can be streamed rather than downloaded. The upside to that is that there are no annoying files on your PC for people to recover, and the risk is much lower, it is all port 80.

Either way, regardless of what is being downloaded, there is so much more material that can be downloaded that leaves little to no traces behind, or few if any risks in terms of what is being used, either as an open source alternative, an independent alternative, or otherwise that maybe parents, and kids are exploring safer options than were previously available before. These alternatives carry fewer risks, and most parents will not see an association of “illegal” with streaming video. Nor will the kids, especially if they have something like Joost, or other legal alternatives.

Tags: education, data mine, business //