BSA estimates that software publishers lose roughly $13 billion to software piracy every year. Many people are surprised to learn that the lion's share of those losses come from the problem of over-installation - that is, loading a program onto more computers than authorized by the license agreement. Globally, that type of copying hurts software publishers more than retail piracy and counterfeiting.
Product activation can help end users comply with license agreements, ensure that the software they are using is genuine and deter casual copying -- all with virtually no impact on legitimate customers. Because of the ubiquity of the internet, the availability of robust and reliable technology and growing industry and consumer adoption, product activation is now a mainstream option for many software companies.
One simple step in the installation process is often all it takes both to enable full use of a software program and to prevent its unauthorized installation. Today’s implementations of product activation are fast, non-intrusive, flexible and respect privacy: they succeed by not burdening legitimate users.
A significant number of BSA member companies use product activation. The BSA believes these efforts represent market-driven and innovative approaches to meeting consumer expectations, while supporting the need for software developers to protect their intellectual property.
Read the Best Practices for Product Activation.
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