Software Piracy Continues At Alarming RatesSoftware Piracy Continues At Alarming Rates

Software continues to be pirated at alarming rates, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Business Software Alliance and conducted by IDC. The BSA said more than one-third of the software installed on PCs last year was pirated.

Generally, more developed countries have lower piracy rates--the software piracy rate in the U.S. is 21 percent, for instance--while less-industrialized countries tend to have the highest piracy rates. Vietnam has the highest piracy rate; the survey found that some 92 percent of Vietnam's software was illegally copied.

The BSA noted that its anti-piracy education is having an impact. "Our primary effort is in education," said Jenny Blank, the BSA's director of enforcement. "Very often an effort is motivated by mid-management, an IT person."

She added that when IT mangers bring the issue to the attention of top management, an effective compliance program is put in place. Periodic audits are also effective in keeping software piracy to a minimum. "You can't stay legal if your employees don't," she said.

The BSA has found that top management of many companies hasn't thought much about the software piracy problem, but when it understands the problem, management tends to act forcefully to implement measures to hold down software piracy.

The report found that the 35 percent of pirated software on PCs worldwide in 2004 represented a one percentage point decrease from the previous year. However, at the same time, piracy losses increased to $33 billion from $29 billion, because the overall market grew, too.

"These losses have a profound economic impact in countries around the world," said BSA president and CEO Robert Holleyman in a statement. "Every copy of software used without proper licensing costs tax revenue, jobs, and growth opportunities for burgeoning software markets."

The report stated that of the $59 billion in commercial packaged PC software sold in 2004, there was another $33 billion that was illegally copied. The more than $90 billion total software installed was up from $80 billion installed in the previous year.

The U.S. had the greatest losses -- $6.6 billion. However, the U.S. still had the lowest piracy rates. Other countries with low piracy rates included New Zealand (23 percent), Austria (25 percent), Sweden (26 percent), and the United Kingdom (27 percent).

The countries with the highest piracy rates in order after Vietnam were Ukraine (91 percent), China (90 percent), Zimbabwe (90 percent), and Indonesia (87 percent).

Blank observed that the survey found that one small country--the United Arab Emirates--has a relatively low piracy rate, primarily attributable to that country's effective compliance and enforcement program that was put in place in the 1990s.

IDC used analysts in more than 50 countries to compile the survey statistics.