Third of software illegal, study shows

MORE than one third of all packaged software installed on PCs in Ireland in 2005 was illegal, according to an annual global software piracy study.

The independent study was conducted by IDC market research and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) — the international association of the world’s leading software developers.

The figure of 38% represents a decrease of 4% from 2003.

Julian McMenamin, chairman of BSA Ireland, believes Ireland has an unacceptable high piracy rate, and is behind the average EU rate of 36%.

“BSA has invested significantly in both education and enforcement programmes in Ireland to increase awareness of the issues surrounding software piracy.

“The recent Software Audit Return campaign is an example of such activity. The encouraging response from Irish companies this year indicates their increasing respect for intellectual property and many are adopting a more responsible attitude overall,” Mr McMenamin added.

Positive changes could be seen in the rapidly developing countries of Russia, India and China. Russia saw a four point drop in its PC software piracy rate while India’s piracy rate declined two points.

China, with one of the fastest growing IT markets in the world, dropped four points between 2004 and 2005.

The countries with the lowest piracy rates are: US (21%), New Zealand (23%), Austria (26%) and Finland (26%).