" Reducing software piracy by just 10 percentage points worldwide would generate 1.5 million jobs and add US$400 billion to the world economy, according to a study released Wednesday by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC...Based on estimates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a full 10-point drop could provide money for...Primary education for about 4 million children." Why won't someone think of the children!? These are fairly ridiculous claims and one-sided. "The study doesn't look at any potential negative impact to consumers, such as paying higher prices for non-pirated software. Gantz admitted that some economic benefit to no-cost software exists, and consumers could be affected by law enforcement actions.

The hidden cost of pirated software is fewer legal software choices for customers, Gantz added, and the benefits of a legitimate software market had more impact on the economy than any benefits from consumers using pirated software."

Study: Reduced piracy to create millions of jobs