BLOGS: Observations on Efforts to Quantify the Economic Effects of Counterfeit and Pirated Goods

Technollama discusses the above report produced by the Government Accountability Office in the USA – and finds it refreshingly non-partisan.

One of the first points that struck me is that this is a professional document with no evident agenda. It is refreshing to read a document dealing with copyright infringement that does not try to score points, use grandiloquent and overemphasised rhetoric, and that simply tells it like it is…

One of the most important parts of the report is that it downright recognises that economic impact rests largely on substitution rates (the amount of people who would buy something, but do not because they prefer to obtain pirated copies); here we are blind, as we simply do not have a good indication of what substitution rates apply.

Sadly, he is not optimistic that the right people will take much notice.

So, whenever you read or hear anyone from the industry claiming huge losses, just pass along this report to them. I would like to think that this will be discussed at ACTA negotiations, but I am not that naive.
Technollama

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