Software piracy in Ireland rises

The software piracy rate in Ireland has increased 1% on last year and currently stands at 42%, equating to revenue losses of almost €42.3m for the Irish software industry, according to the Business Software Alliance's (BSA) seventh annual survey on software piracy.

A piracy rate of 42% means that almost one in every two business software programmes installed in Ireland is an illegal copy.

The independent study conducted by IPR and released today, highlights the damaging impact of unlicensed software use on economies in 85 countries.

Julian McMenamin, Chairman, BSA Ireland, commented, "Year on year, since the BSA has been active in Ireland, the piracy rate has decreased. To see an upturn now is extremely disappointing. Our reputation as a legitimate business base for global computer companies is being seriously undermined."

"With the current economic downturn, Ireland's key to remaining attractive and competitive to other countries lies in demonstrating strong IP protection. Ireland must reduce its piracy rate dramatically to bring itself below the EU average and protect its image and economic future. Intentional and careless license abuse by Irish companies must stop now."

Global software piracy is on the increase for the second year running, growing from 37% in 2000 to 40% in 2001, according to the survey. While the worldwide dollar losses due to piracy dropped nearly one billion dollars from $11.75 billion in 2000 to $10.97 billion in 2001.

Piracy rates in Western Europe also increased 3% on last year to 37% which translates into dollar losses of $2.7 billion (almost ˆ2.9 billion) for the software industry. The largest increases in Europe were seen in France and Germany where piracy rates increased from 40% to 46% and 28% to 34% respectively.

Western Europe has the second lowest piracy rate globally after North America, but still accounts for 25% of dollar losses so there is little cause for complacency, warns Beth Scott, vice president of the Business Software Alliance, Europe: "Software piracy continues to present an alarming problem to the economies of Western Europe, robbing them of jobs, VAT and tax revenues in every country."

Scott continued: "We urge the European Union to take bold measures in its forthcoming Enforcement Directive to combat the escalating problem of piracy in Europe through tougher legislation. We at the BSA have pledged to continue working aggressively to educate consumers and law enforcement agencies around the world that piracy is theft - plain and simple."

The reduction in dollar losses can be attributed to a strong U.S. dollar, decline in software prices making the benefits of original software more compelling against the risks of software piracy and the effects of a worldwide economic slowdown. Western Europe, North America and Asia/Pacific once again accounted for the majority (85%) of revenue losses.

This is a significant trend and helps explain why the Irish industry has lost less in revenues this year than last despite an increasing software piracy rate.

"In the seven years that we have conducted this study, this is the first time piracy has increased two years in a row. This is particularly disturbing in light of the fact that more and more software companies are moving their distribution systems to the Internet. The BSA is committed to working with governments, companies and law enforcement agencies around the world to turn this trend around now."