A new SIIA white paper on Internet auction piracy illustrates how pirates utilizing Internet auctions are turning better than a 90 percent profit margin from sales of illegitimate software, and reaching thousands of new customers at little effort or cost. It also highlights the problems and risks consumers face when purchasing pirated software, such as a lack of access to manuals, tech support or upgrades, and no assurance that the software is free of crippling viruses. A four-day SIIA survey of four major Internet auction sites conducted last April showed that 91 percent of all software being auctioned was illegitimate.
Auction sites provide relative anonymity and relatively free access to thousands of customers.
These pirate sellers will be vigorously pursued both by SIIA and by the Department of Justice. SIIA is committed to increasing outreach to consumers regarding warning signs that identify sellers of pirated software. In the mean time, SIIA is in the process of filing several more suits against pirates utilizing auction sites, several as early as next week. The Washington, D.C.-based SIIA is the principal trade association of the software code and information content industry. SIIA represents more than 1,000 companies that develop and enable software and electronic content for business, education, consumers and the Internet.