James Delahunty
5 Oct 2005 9:54
Software piracy figures continue to jump to new heights as the business of software counterfeiting remains a multi-million dollar problem for software companies. Software and entertainment media remain in the top list of goods to counterfeit along with clothing, currency and other financial instruments like credit cards, according to Canada's Gieschen Consultancy. The value of pirated software hit $6.2m in August, down from $91m in June but totaling $185m in the first half of 2005.
Overall intellectual property theft was up a massive 370% in August due to the increased spending over and after the summer. Up to 25% of all the counterfeit goods were sold by street sellers or at car boot sales and other events. Of course, Microsoft has not been dethroned as the company who's software is pirated most. Following closely behind is Sony, Adobe, Autodesk and Macromedia.
The United States has the most reported intellectual property violations in august with over $76m in seizures. France was in second place at $9.7m and the UK's £4.9m came in at third place. According the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and market researcher IDC, 27% of all software in use in the UK is pirated, costing the software industry about £1bn. "If the UK achieved a 10 per cent reduction in software piracy, an additional £10bn could be raised towards UK GDP while 40,000 jobs could created in the IT sector." said Najeeb Khan, spokesperson for the BSA.
Source:
Silicon.com