Washington (July 10, 2003) -- The piracy rate for commercial software from 1994 to 2002 decreased 10 percentage points to 39 percent worldwide, and the United States has the world's lowest rate, reports the Business Software Alliance, The piracy rate is the amount of in-use business software that was installed without proper licenses.
Despite the rate drop, vendors lost $13.07 billion in revenue to piracy in 2002 up from $12.34 billion lost worldwide in 1994. The total revenue lost to piracy in the United States dropped to $1.96 billion in 2002 from $3.6 billion in 1994 and $1.99 billion in 2001, according to the Washington-based BSA's eighth annual study of piracy.
The 39 percent rate in 2002 is down about two percentage points from 2001, the first year-to-year decline since 1998 to 1999, when the worldwide rate was 36 percent, the study found. To access the full report, go to
BSA chief executive Robert Holleyman attributed the piracy decline to the industry's implementation of educational programs, work with governments to strengthen copyright laws and its emphasis on "good software asset management practices." However, he added that the industry still faces "a spiraling Internet piracy problem."
-- John M. Covaleski
