Software piracy still rampant in Asia
More than half of all software installed on personal computers in the Asia Pacific region last year was an illegal copy, with Vietnam, Indonesia, China and Pakistan among the worse offenders, an industry study showed.
The region's average piracy rate rose by a percentage point to 54 percent in 2005 from the previous year, despite a decline in copyright fraud in six Asian economies, the study released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) said.
This was due to an increase in computer shipment to the booming Chinese and Indian markets which had offset the fall in software piracy rates in the six countries, including China, India, Singapore and Vietnam, it added.
The study, monitored on the BSA website on Wednesday, was conducted by industry research firm International Data Corp for the global association of software manufacturers.
Vietnam had the highest software piracy rate at 90 percent -- in the league with Zimbabwe, it said. Indonesia came next with 87 percent, China 86 percent and Pakistan also at 86 percent.
China's piracy rate however showed a four-point decline from last year, along with Russia and Morocco. The Ukraine showed a six-point drop, while Singapore's software piracy rate eased to 40 percent from 42 percent.
Comparatively, the United States had the lowest piracy rate of 21 percent but also had the greatest losses totalling 6.9 billion US dollars.
"The progress made in reducing PC software piracy in several emerging markets provides some encouragement. However, much more needs to be done," said BSA president and chief executive Robert Holleyman.
"With more than one out of every three copies of PC software obtained illegally, piracy continues to threaten the future of software innovation, resulting in lost jobs and tax revenues."
Global losses from software piracy amounted to 34 billion US dollars in 2005, up by 1.6 billion US dollars from the year before.
Stronger intellectual property protection, awareness and education are "absolutely critical" to stemming the growth of software piracy worldwide, Holleyman said.
Asian countries have taken increased steps to clamp down on piracy partly due to mounting pressure from the United States.
But analysts said changing the mindset to one that embraces and protects intellectual property rights instead of stealing them is the key to ending copyright fraud in Asia and beyond.
Agence France Presse - May 24, 2006.
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