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With rising awareness of
the problems of software piracy, India witnessed a slight drop in the
use of pirated software in 2010. According to the findings of the 8th
Annual
Software Alliance (BSA) 2010 Global Software
Piracy Study, India witnessed a single percentage drop in piracy rate
for PC software in 2010 down to 64%, as compared to 2009. However,
this rate is slightly higher than the Asia Pacific rate of 60%.
With that rate, the
commercial value of unlicensed software installed on personal
computers in India touched $2.739 bn in 2010, whereas the global
losses stood at $58.8 bn, according to BSA.
India's piracy rate
has dropped 10% since 2004
In total, India's piracy
rate has dropped 10% since 2004, where it stood at 74%, and thus, a
continuous drop but a very slow one, the study added. BSA said
businesses and consumers around the world bought $95 bn worth of
legal personal computer (PC) software in 2010. The study observed
that governments face an urgent need to drive down software piracy
levels in order to harness the economic benefits of a domestic
genuine and legal software product ecosystem and respect for
Intellectual Property Rights.
“These findings show
that there has been a gradual progress in reducing the software
piracy rate in India, but what is needed is a speedier drop as
India's PC market grows in size,” said Keshav S Dhakad, chair,
BSA India.
“The further we reduce
software piracy and grow the legitimate software product market, the
greater the benefits to the Indian economy in terms of added new
jobs, increase in government's legitimate tax collections,
contribution to GDP, respect for intellectual property, growth of the
domestic IT product industry and PC/IT security to the nation as a
whole,” he said.
India requires an
accelerated and focused programs
According to him,
“Although government and industry must be commended for the efforts
that are underway to tackle this menace, India requires an
accelerated and focused programs and initiatives to educate PC users
and companies on the benefits of legal and licensed software and how
it causes economic losses to the local industry and creates serious
cyber security vulnerabilities.”
Major gap between PC
shipments and paid software licenses
The study also indicates
that while the number of PCs shipped to emerging economies like India
in 2010 accounted to more than 50% of the world total, paid software
licenses accounted for less than 20% of global sales in 2010.
This piracy study,
conducted by BSA in partnership with IDC, also includes a new
dimension this time: a public-opinion survey of PC users on key
social attitudes and behaviors related to software piracy, conducted
by Ipsos Public Affairs. BSA said the opinion survey found strong
support for intellectual property rights especially in developing
economies to promote more technology advances. Majority of the
respondents from developing markets say inventors should be rewarded
and intellectual property development benefits the local economy.
The survey also found
widespread recognition that licensed software is better than pirated
software, because it is understood to be more secure and more
reliable. “Software piracy has broader implications which
transcends beyond the realm of software industry and it impacts the
health of nation's economy, Business risks for industry,
opportunity losses for small business/service firms/ consumers,
reduces government tax revenues,” said Anjan Das, executive
director -technology, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The study said that half
of the 116 geographies studied in 2010 had piracy rates of 62% or
higher, with the global average piracy rate at 42%.
Emerging economies
driving force behind piracy
Emerging economies have
become a driving force behind PC software piracy. Piracy rates in the
developing world are 2.5 times higher than those in the developed
world, and the commercial value of pirated software ($31.9 bn)
accounts for more than half of the world total, it added.
“Today's study shows
that while piracy continues to threaten the global economy, people
clearly understand and appreciate the value of intellectual property,
especially its role in driving economic growth,” said Robert
Holleyman, president and CEO, BSA He said software theft continues
to stifle IT innovation, job creation, and economic growth around the
world.