About 82 percent of the software used in China is pirated, well above the Asian regional average of 55 percent. Software piracy accounts for billion of dollars in losses to Chinese and foreign software developers every year. The last video games and Microsoft software are widely available in pirated form.

U.S. software companies, Microsoft, WordPerfect and Autodesk won a landmark victory in Chinese courts against a Chinese company—Juren Computer Company in Beijing— that was pirating the company's software. Juren was ordered to pay the equivalent of $53,600 damages and stop pirating software. The ruling should, many hoped would set a precedent allowing foreigner companies to punish other pirates and counterfeiters.

Sony released Playstation II much later in China than it did in other places partly over concerns about pirating. A report from an investigation by Sony released in 2004, revealed that at least 10 pirating operations in China were producing 50,000 Playsation consoles a year. In one case the consoles were assembled at prison. In some cases the factories were raided and their owners were fined but the factories quickly resumed operation.

Software piracy produces an estimated $40 billion in losses worldwide in 2006. Countries with the highest rates of software piracy (pirate software as a percentage of software sold): 1) Vietnam (92 percent); 2) Ukraine (91 percent); 3) China (90 percent); 4) and 5) Indonesia and Russia (87 percent); 6) Kazakhstan (85 percent); 7) Serbia-Montenegro (81 percent). The piracy rate in North America by contrast in 22 percent.