Monday, May 28, 2001		Article

Software piracy spurts in Asia

ASIA was the only region where software piracy spurted last year but the governments keen to grow their technology sectors are stepping up efforts to curb the trend, an anti-piracy watchdog told Reuters last week.

Asia’s software piracy rate rose to 51 per cent in 2000 from 47 per cent the previous year. The region accounts for the largest piracy losses at nearly $ 4.1 billion or 35 per cent of the total.

The study by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a group representing the world’s largest software manufacturers, showed piracy losses nearing $ 11.8 billion worldwide in 2000.

Estimates indicate that one in every three-business software applications was a bogus copy.

North America accounted for the third highest piracy losses totalling $ 2.9 billion and Western Europe stood at $3.1 billion.

"Although the piracy rates in several regions and countries have decreased, software piracy continues to rob the global marketplace of hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in wages and tax revenue," Robert Holleyman, president and chief executive officer of the BSA, said in a statement.

The BSA said Asian piracy rates were rising in line with the region’s information technology development.

Japan’s piracy rate increased to 37 per cent from 31 per cent, reflecting the highest dollar losses for the Asian region.

South Korea rose to 56 per cent from 50 per cent, China to 94 per cent from 91 per cent and Vietnam topped the list at 97 per cent, down from 98 per cent.

Countries in the Asia Pacific that had improved were Malaysia at 66 per cent down from 71 per cent, the Philippines at 61 per cent, down from 70 per cent, Singapore at 50 per cent down from 51 per cent and Thailand at 79 per cent down from 81 per cent.