The Hindu Business Line : Software piracy rate in India declined last year: Study

Coimbatore, May 15 The findings of the fifth annual global PC software piracy study released by Business Software Alliance reveal that illegal PC software use in India has dropped by two percentage points in 12 months, from 71 per cent in 2006 to 69 per cent last year, in line with the drop in global piracy rates.

Industry loss due to software piracy, however, registered a rise to $2 billion in 2007 compared with $1.28 billion in 2006.

The BSA-IDC Global Software Piracy Study covers piracy of all packaged software that run on personal computers, including desktops, laptops and ultra-portables but excludes server and mainframe-based software.

The study covered 108 countries. Among these, sixty-seven countries registered a drop in software piracy while eight recorded a rise. However, because the worldwide PC market grew fastest in high-piracy countries, the piracy rate increased by three percentage points to 38 in 2007.

In Asia, the piracy rate was highest in Bangladesh at 92 per cent followed by Sri Lanka at 90 per cent and Vietnam at 85. The lowest-piracy countries were Japan at 23 per cent, Singapore at 37 per cent and Taiwan 40.

“This study shows that government and industry anti-piracy efforts are delivering software piracy reductions in many countries; however, rapid PC growth in higher-piracy emerging markets translates into an overall increase in global piracy,” said Mr John Gantz, Chief Research Officer at IDC.

Need for a plan

Commenting on the findings, Mr Keshav S. Dhakad, Chair of the BSA India Committee, said, “There is some progress in the battle against software piracy, albeit slowly, compared to Russia, where the rate has dropped by 7 per cent in 2007. As an IT leader, India needs a concrete, all-inclusive anti-piracy education, engagement and enforcement plan to effectively lower these rates year-on-year. This can be achieved with a right mix of improvement at all levels, raising public awareness, establishing specialised IPR courts, creating uniform and equipped IPR police cells and fostering greater government-industry-private partnerships.”

Piracy rates in India have been on a gradual decline over the last three years with the government, industry bodies and software companies taking initiatives to curb the menace, against all odds.

The ill-effect of software piracy is much more than mere revenue loss. The latest IDC economic impact study findings show that a ten per cent drop in software piracy over a period of four years would generate 44,000 new jobs, $3.1 billion in economic growth and $200 million in tax revenues. The study also predicted an additional $208 million in revenues to local vendors.

5-point blueprint

BSA advocates a five-point “blueprint” for reducing software piracy and reaping the economic benefits: increase public education and awareness of the value of intellectual property and the risks of using unlicensed software; update national copyright laws to implement World Intellectual Property Organization obligations for effective enforcement against digital and online piracy; create enforcement mechanisms as required by the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, including tough anti-piracy laws; dedicate significant government resources to the problem, including national IP enforcement units, cross-border co-operation, and training for local officers and judiciary officials; and lead by example by implementing software management policies and requiring the public sector to use only legitimate software.

Related Stories:
Less piracy, more jobs, says study
Unlicensed software key source of revenue loss for cos: KPMG study
Pirated software worth $2.1 m seized in India last year