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London (pte037/19.05.2005/13:21) - Based on a study done across 87 countries, experts are predicting that two-thirds of software used worldwide today could be pirated in five years' time.
The software industry turnover is expected to rise to US$300 over five years, with an increase of US$200 billion in the illegal software sector.
According to the study - done by technology researcher International Data Corp (IDC) http://www.idc.com and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) http://www.bsa.org/ - a trade body, the European Union, the United States and Canada saw more than one third of computer software being pirated. As Internet usage becomes more popular and frequent, so does the demand for pirated software, especially with increased use of broadband services.
The study showed that the rate of piracy fell one per cent to 35 per cent, but that the industry made $32.7 billion dollars in comparison to $28.8 billion in 2003. "The increase over $29 billion losses in 2003 can be attributed to a 6 percent growth overall in the global PC software industry in 2004 as well as a devaluation of the U.S. dollar," the study said.
With the help of governments to help protect intellectual property, the piracy rate could be curbed, 1.5 million more jobs could be created, US$64 million in additional tax revenues and $400 billion in economic growth could be made possible, the study said.
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