Facts

Statistics and more

• Microsoft is the largest software company in the world today, with 44.3 billion USD in revenue in Fiscal Year 2006.
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• The RIAA has filed about 20 000 lawsuits against Americans for illegally downloading music through peer-to-peer software, as of July 2006.
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• In 2004, a survey conducted found that 24% of respondents from eight developed countries said that they have downloaded a movie before.
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• The first copyright act, the 1710 British Statute of Anne, granted authors a copyright protection of 28 years.
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• According to a 2004 study by Business Software Association of Australia, out of 84 countries, Vietnam had the highest software piracy rate of 92%.
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• Under the fair use provision, in the US, limited portions of copyrighted works can be used for certain purposes without contravening the law.
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• Music consumers as young as twelve have been targeted by the RIAA in its lawsuits against users who download music from peer-to-peer software.
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• As of early 2005, American TV series 24 ranked as the top pirated TV program worldwide.
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• Some researches have claimed that companies are able to profit from piracy of their own copyrighted products.
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• In late 2005, it was found that one of Sony’s Digital Rights Management software could compromise a user’s computer by exposing it to viruses.
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• Libraries, rental shops and second-hand retailers are all legal alternatives to copyright infringement.
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• Software companies Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec all require product activation in some of its titles; in principle, it would be impossible to install a single copy of the software onto more than one computer
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• The broadcast flag scheme, if implemented, could cause compability problems between old and new digital television devices like DVD players.
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• Legislation against digital copyright infringement is an ongoing process and the writing and passing of laws continue to take place in certain nations.
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• Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Intellectual Property Committee and the Interpol have both found evidence that many terrorist organizations are funded by the production or sale of pirated discs.
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• Users of pirated software often lack standard documentation, proper technical support and software upgrades for their pirated software.
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