BSA releases state study on software piracy.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA), an industry organization representing the world's leading software developers, has revealed the 10 states with the most improved software piracy rates, based on the results of an independent state-by-state analysis of software piracy in 2001.

The states that experienced the largest percentage point reduction in piracy from 2000 to 2001 are: California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York and Utah.

The study, conducted for BSA by International Planning and Research Corporation (IPR), also reveals software piracy's continued negative impact on the nation's software industry and economy, including lost jobs, wages and tax revenues.

"Software piracy has a damaging economic impact on not only the software industry, but on the economic health of the nation as a whole," said Robert Holleyman, president and CEO for BSA. "It depletes available funding for valuable research and development and causes staggering job losses, billions of dollars in lost wages and tax revenues."

According to the study, in 2001, the U.S. software piracy rate was 25 percent, up one percentage point from 2000, and cost the nation $1.8 billion in retail sales of business software applications and more than 111,000 jobs. The states with the most improved piracy rates are, in order:

State           2000 Piracy   2001 Piracy   Percentage
                Rate          Rate          Point Change

New Hampshire   33.5%         17.2%         -16.3%
Maryland        34.3%         19.6%         -14.7%
California      30.7%         18.5%         -12.2%
Nebraska        33.1%         21.1%         -11%
Utah            37.5%         27.6%         -9.9%
Nevada          46.5%         38.3%         -8.2%
Colorado        29.2%         24.8%         -4.4%
New York        16.3%         11.9%         -4.4%
Illinois        17.2%         13.0%         -4.2%
Missouri        20.9%         18.6%         -2.3%

BSA strongly believes that with the right plan and tools, governments and businesses can be proactive in addressing software compliance. BSA's members are the builders of many of the software products, networks and systems that provide the world's information infrastructures, and of the leading security tools used to protect them.

BSA provides information to government agencies, enabling them to evaluate major online security threats and take steps to improve their cyber security readiness, and also encourages governments and businesses to monitor their software assets closely and implement sound software management programs.

BSA encourages businesses and consumers to take the following steps to ensure legal use of software:

-- Adopt a corporate policy on compliance with copyright laws;

-- Audit company computers;

-- Document software purchases and understand licensing agreements;

-- Beware of prices that are "too good to be true;" and

-- Educate management and employees of their obligations under copyright laws.

In June 2002, IPR released its seventh annual global piracy survey for BSA. The survey highlights the serious impact of copyright infringement on the software industry and reveals that losses to the software industry from piracy were nearly $11 billion worldwide in 2001.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is the voice of the world's software and Internet industry before governments and with customers in the international marketplace. Its members represent the fastest growing industry in the world. BSA educates computer users on software copyrights; advocates public policy that fosters innovation and expands trade opportunities; and fights software piracy.