Many times in recent years, “The Cloud” has been lauded as one solution to ending piracy. There is no software to pirate and everything stays on the server. That seems to have been a pipe dream as the Business Software Alliance discusses 4 emerging trends of copyright infringement in The Cloud seen through a global survey.
In a blog post yesterday and in conjunction with data BSA released this week, the article discusses a trend of software piracy continuing into the cloud. The data also observes piracy in emerging markets continuing to be worse than those of mature markets, a trend mirroring that in piracy of traditional software applications.
The Business Software Alliance recognizes four ways that piracy is continuing in The Cloud:
- Sharing log-in credentials to cloud services
- Using a public “dark cloud” to sell software as a service without sufficient licensing
- Using a private “dark cloud” to distribute pirated software
- Using a private “gray cloud” to share legal software with more users than licensed
Credential-sharing within organizations does not always amount to pirating cloud services. In some cases, organizations may hold licenses that allow users to share accounts. In fact, many cloud service providers charge for their services not by “seat” but by the volume of computing resources consumed, making the path users take to access those resources less important.
The survey results can be seen on the BSA site. An easier way to digest the data comes in the form of this infographic:
Infographic credit: Business Software Alliance