Global software piracy up.

by Zeid Nasser Every time a new report on piracy worldwide and in the region is published, it opens up the discussion of how to combat illegal software copying and use, highlighting the 'most affected areas' and showing again that we in the Middle East are not the biggest culprits! The Business Software Alliance (BSA), an international association established by the software industry, released the Fifth Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study.It revealed the biggest increase in global piracy in four years, jumping by three percentage points to 38 per cent in 2007. According to the report: "Rapid growth of the IT industry in countries with weak copyright enforcement and expanding internet access have largely contributed to the global trend."Despite the increasing prevalence of software piracy, the study also revealed that the GCC region - no mention of us in the Levant- has improved its anti-piracy performance through initiatives such as smart government policies, effective enforcement, end user customer education and vendor legalisation programs. And, as you would expect, the shining beacon of the region is the UAE, which once again posted the best anti-piracy rating. The regional BSA head and global co-chairman, Jawad Al Redha, has issued a rallying call saying "This situation underscores the need to sustain and even intensify our vigilance, as these threats will persist with the continued growth of the global IT industry."He was pleased with our region, commending "the successful job in improving the anti-piracy record" through joint efforts with government authorities in the GCC show that collaboration between public and private entities deliver positive results.Back to the global statistics, of the 108 countries covered by the global piracy study, 67 were able to improve their piracy ratings, with only 8 reporting increases in piracy, although many of these countries had exceedingly high piracy ratings. The Middle East and Africa region maintained its piracy rating at 60 per cent for the second straight year.The study also revealed that global losses to piracy in 2007 totalled nearly USD 48 billion, an increase of USD 8 billion over the previous year. Prior to the 2007 report, global piracy had been relatively stable as it stood at 36 per cent in 2003 and remained at 35 per cent for the next three years before the increase in 2007. Also, 261 million PCs were shipped to consumers in 2007, a 16 per cent growth, with individual consumers and small businesses accounting for 66 per cent of the market. Nearly 700 million PCs were installed with new software, resulting in USD 80 billion in sales of PC software, which was an increase of 18 per cent.Pointing to the economic gains of reducing piracy, Al Redha said that "our study has further revealed that if we can reduce global piracy by 10 points over the next four years, we will be able to generate thousands of new jobs, substantially increase tax revenues and build a stronger economy for all countries." How that will happen in poorer countries of the world, with ever increasing poverty and spiralling inflation is beyond me. But, the BSA can hope! A*[e-mail] software piracy up

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