It occurred to me recently that we probably have entered a new age of ubiquitous piracy. A world that sneaked up on us quite unobtrusively, little by little permeating everything, and until recently, we did not realize we had been hijacked. There must be exponentially more pirates operating today, both in overall quantity and as a percentage of the world population, than there has ever been at any time in history.
Last week Alan Abelson wrote in his Up and Down Wall Street column (Barron's, subscription required) that 80% of the software sold in China was pirated. No kidding - and he quipped that software companies should be happy because that meant they were paying for the other 20%. Oh boy! - this is sure to please Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE), Intuit Inc (NASDAQ: INTU), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). The billions of dollars lost to piracy in one year is certainly more than all the doubloons ever high-jacked on the highs seas.
Software is not the only thing being pirated, everything is being pirated. One could make the argument that in China, and even worldwide pirated goods would easily make up the largest business ever known if it was a single enterprise.
My 11 and 14 year old boys were among the first to see Pirates of the Caribbean - At the World's End, which opened to glorious crowds this week end. They were quite impressed and I think are ready for episodes 4, 5, and 6 if Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) cares to make hundreds of millions of dollars more. I was surprised that they both preferred Spider-Man III to 'Pirates', given the edgy pirates persona over the "do-good-er", but they both favored the crime fighter over the pirate without hesitation when I inquired.
When I look at the latest attire worn by certain segments of the population it seems to me that there is at least some influence by pirates. Maybe it's just me but when I see guys wearing earrings, un-shaven faces, with bandannas on their bald (or long unkempt hair) heads, tattoos all over, piercings, worn out or torn clothes, chains, boots, and more, it is very much in line with a pirate motif -- intentional or not. Just another fashion statement, or do we live in the new age of pirating?
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Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the vice president for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. Check out his other posts for BloggingStocks here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-27-2007 @ 4:29PM
Sheldon L said...
Test
5-27-2007 @ 10:32PM
Adeptus said...
As a guy who wears an earring, has long hair (sometimes unkempt), and is occasionally unshaven, I'd just like to say...
AVAST YE LANDLUBBER! PREPARE TO BE KEEL-HAULED!
I feel so much better now.