A recent study showed that software piracy in Asia has continued to increase in 2008 due to the rapid increase in computer hardware sales and the non-stop file sharing and availability of bootleg programs in the Internet.
In its annual survey, Business Software Alliance (BSA) showed that last year’s software piracy has increased to 59 percent from the previous year’s record. In Asia-Pacific region alone, some 61 percent of the software being used was illegally acquired or unlicensed.
BSA vice president Jeffrey Hardee said that the industry loss around $15.26 billion or 8.3 percent decrease in sales compared to 2007.
Meanwhile, the survey also showed that the global rate of unlicensed software use has increased by 41 percent last year, or 38 percent compared in 2007. In total, the global profit loss due to software piracy has reached to unprecedented $53 Billion.
Hardee attributed the piracy rate to the rapid growth of personal computers and smaller computer packages in the market where software piracy is in its highest. The official added that the sheer number of PCs being supplied to the region contributed to the high piracy rate and driven its growth even if piracy itself went down significantly.
Another factor, according to Hardee, is the widespread and indiscriminate use of the Internet. He said that the availability of broadband connection in the region has played a significant role in the piracy rate.
According to the study, the most downloaded software through the internet includes operating systems, PC games, security packages, application software, and office packages.
Hardee pointed Bangladesh as the biggest market for pirates in Asia. The country’s piracy level rose to 92 percent followed by neighboring Sri Lanka and Pakistan with 90 and 86 percent increase, respectively.
Meanwhile, Japan posted the lowest rate with only 21 percent, New Zealand, 22 percent, and Australia 26 percent.
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