Software piracy cost technology companies more than 50 billion dollars around the world last year, with Sri Lanka being named as the number two culprit in Asia, an industry report said today.
Despite successes in the fight to protect intellectual property rights, on average 43 percent of software used in computers worldwide in 2009 was pirated, from 41 percent the year before, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) said.
Worldwide, piracy losses reached 51.4 billion dollars in 2009, of which 16.5 billion dollars was in the Asia-Pacific region, the annual report found. Bangladesh had the highest software piracy rate in Asia, followed by Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam, with China and India also among the worst culprits.
The deluge of counterfeits was largely due to the growth of the personal computer market in Brazil, India and China, said the BSA, a global trade alliance with a regional office in Singapore.
On average 59 percent of the 900 million pieces of software installed in the Asia-Pacific region last year were unlicensed, said Victor Lim, a vice president at IDC, which carried out the study with the software alliance.
“This study makes clear that while efforts to bring down piracy levels in the Asia-Pacific are enjoying some success, dollar losses at over 16.5 billion (dollars) remain the highest in the world,” said Jeffrey Hardee, BSA's vice president and regional director.
sundaytimes
Despite successes in the fight to protect intellectual property rights, on average 43 percent of software used in computers worldwide in 2009 was pirated, from 41 percent the year before, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) said.
Worldwide, piracy losses reached 51.4 billion dollars in 2009, of which 16.5 billion dollars was in the Asia-Pacific region, the annual report found. Bangladesh had the highest software piracy rate in Asia, followed by Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam, with China and India also among the worst culprits.
The deluge of counterfeits was largely due to the growth of the personal computer market in Brazil, India and China, said the BSA, a global trade alliance with a regional office in Singapore.
On average 59 percent of the 900 million pieces of software installed in the Asia-Pacific region last year were unlicensed, said Victor Lim, a vice president at IDC, which carried out the study with the software alliance.
“This study makes clear that while efforts to bring down piracy levels in the Asia-Pacific are enjoying some success, dollar losses at over 16.5 billion (dollars) remain the highest in the world,” said Jeffrey Hardee, BSA's vice president and regional director.
sundaytimes
