A major setback for those that claim piracy is having an adverse affect on the US economy: the US Government Accountability Office, who was tasked with reviewing the efforts to find out what, if any, impact piracy has on the US economy, has concluded that all of these studies – all of them – are bogus. Better yet – the GAO even goes as far as to say that piracy may have a positive effect on the economy.
« Some experts we interviewed and literature we reviewed identified potential positive economic effects of counterfeiting and piracy. Some consumers may knowingly purchase a counterfeit or pirated product because it is less expensive than the genuine good or because the genuine good is unavailable, and they may experience positive effects from such purchases, » the GAO concludes[…]
Still, this doesn’t mean piracy is not a problem – the GAO report calls it « sizeable » – it just means we haven’t been able yet to really gauge its impact, contrary to what big content wants you (and your government) to believe.
http://www.osnews.com/story/23153/US_Government_Admits_Most_Piracy_Studies_Are_Nonsense