China is now Only 82% Thieves

Andrew Batson, writing in the Wall Street Journal, informs us that "Software Piracy Rate Falls In China for a Third Year."

Well thank goodness for that. So just how much has it fallen?

The study, conducted by research firm International Data Corp. for the Business Software Alliance, estimated 82% of software used in China in 2006 was pirated, down from 86% in 2005.

Land sakes! That's quite an improvement. Let's see if we can demonstrate this with an every day example. Here's a picture of a living room.


If this were China's living room, in 2005 the following items would have been stolen from someone else.

- the lamp, both chairs, the rocking chair, both area rugs, the coffee table, both ficus trees and their pots, the sofa, 6 of the 7 throw pillows, the vase, the flowers in the vase, the magazines on the table, the picture on the wall and the blanket draped over the back of the sofa.

In 2006, our Chinese friends became much more responsible. They only stole the following:

- the lamp, both chairs, the rocking chair, both area rugs, the coffee table, both ficus trees and their pots, the sofa, 5 of the 7 throw pillows, the vase, the flowers in the vase, the magazines on the table, the picture on the wall and the blanket draped over the back of the sofa.

Ahhh, the Chinese Economic Miracle. It's something wondrous to behold, isn't it?