Software Piracy on the Rise

W A S H I N G T O N, May 21 -- Software piracy grew in 2000 for the first time in more than half a decade and 37 percent of the programs used by businesses worldwide are illegal copies, a trade group of software makers reported today.

The worldwide dollar losses to software makers due to piracy dropped slightly to $11.75 billion, however, due to a growing market for software and lower prices, the group said.

The Business Software Alliance, an organization of productivity software companies such as Adobe and Microsoft, has conducted the study since 1994.

This year’s findings reverse what had been a steady drop in rate of pirated software.

“It appears that there is more change in attitudes towards piracy in periods of economic growth, when business are adapting new technology to keep up with demand and competitive pressures, than in times of slower growth,” the report said.

Technologically advanced regions like North America and Western Europe have a “fundamental piracy problem,” it said. The Asia-Pacific nations — where more than half of all programs in use last year were stolen — are increasingly accounting for worldwide piracy.

The progress that has been made in some regions, such as North America, isn’t much comfort to the alliance’s director of enforcement, Bob Kruger.

“That’s kind of like saying that I’m having fewer heart attacks than I used to,” Kruger said. “But the damage that’s being caused by piracy is still devastating. It can be counted in the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars lost.”

The study comes as the trade group announces 159 software piracy settlements worldwide, totaling more than $6.2 million. Thirty-six of those settlements — in which companies paid software companies to settle claims that they were using unlicensed software — are in the United States.

Software companies lost more than $4 billion in 2000 due to piracy in the Asia-Pacific region, the highest dollar rate. Eastern Europe has had the highest piracy rate each year, with 63 percent of its software illegally copied in 2000.