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If It's May It's Time For The Press To Parrot Bogus Stats Announcement From The BSA
,----[ Quote ]
| Like the swallows returning to Capistrano,
| every May is marked by the release of
| intentionally misleading and bogus stats
| from the Business Software Alliance (or,
| more accurately, the Bogus Stats Alliance)
| concerning software "piracy." As with
| every other year, the stats are compiled
| by IDC, despite the fact that even IDC has
| admitted in the past that the BSA is
| purposely misrepresenting their findings.
| You would think, at some point, that IDC
| would stop providing numbers that are
| blatantly misrepresented... but I guess if
| the money's green, IDC will give you the
| numbers you want.
|
| We've been covering these bogus stat
| reports for many years, providing a
| detailed look at how misleading the stats
| are, and pointing out how many in the
| press simply parrot the numbers without
| question. Two years ago, a VP at the BSA
| (who's now working at the Justice
| Department, of course) was kind enough to
| call me to try to explain the BSA's
| numbers (along with a PR person and a
| representative from IDC). When I
| challenged them on the whole "one copy
| equals one sale thing" they insisted that
| their numbers showed such a claim was
| accurate.
|
| [...]
|
| They just repeat the numbers -- the same
| numbers the US government just said were
| bunk -- as if they were pure fact. Just a
| sampling: the AFP, the BBC,
| ComputerWeekly, Computerworld, the UK
| Press Association, Network World, eWeek
| and many, many others.
|
| Business Week gets credit for being one of
| the very, very few sources that at least
| mentions the GAO's findings, though it
| does so in one sentence at the very bottom
| of the article. The National Journal also
| mentions the GAO report -- though neither
| seemed to ask (or get any responses from
| the BSA) to this rather crucial point.
| ITWire, at the very least, points out that
| the study is basically made up, noting
| that:
|
| "estimates of piracy rates are based
| mostly on inferences and the 'gut
| feeling' of the BSA's research
| organisation IDC;
|
| But that's about all I could find. For the
| most part, the press -- the one's we're
| told are supposed to be asking all the
| "tough" questions, simply reposted the
| BSA's press release as fact.
`----
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100511/1516059386.shtml
Recent:
Open source against piracy
,----[ Quote ]
| There are a few good reasons why open
| source fans should support the Business
| Software Alliance.
|
| I've never made a secret of the fact that I
| dislike the Business Software Alliance
| (BSA). It's questionable statistics and its
| sweeping generalisations make for annoying
| reading at the best of times. But recently
| I've been thinking that perhaps open source
| advocates should get behind the BSA.
`----
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Software/11472.html
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