Iain Thomson in San Francisco, vnunet.com , Friday 18 July 2008 at 01:10:00 BSA makes claim of piracy ripple effect The Business Software Alliance is claiming that if software piracy is costing communities police and housing. In its review of piracy in the US the pressure group, funded by major software vendors, found that although four out of every five pieces of software is legally bought the remaining pirated material is costing the industry $11.4bn and local government $1.7bn in lost taxes. This would pay for 100 middle schools or 10,800 affordable housing units, or hire nearly 25,000 experienced police officers. "The United States may have the lowest PC software piracy rate in the world, but still, one out of every five pieces of software put into service is unlicensed," said BSA Vice President of Anti-Piracy and General Counsel Neil MacBride. "Not only is this a problem for the software industry, but piracy also creates major legal and security risks for the companies involved." "The most tragic aspect is that the lost revenues to tech companies and local governments could be supporting thousands of good jobs and much-needed social services in our communities," he said. The survey studied eight states and found significant local variation from the national piracy figure of 20 per cent. In California and Nevada the rate was 25 per cent, while this dropped down to 19 per cent in Florida and New York. ...
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Iain Thomson in San Francisco, vnunet.com , Friday 18 July 2008 at 01:10:00 BSA makes claim of piracy ripple effect The Business Software Alliance is claiming that if software piracy is costing communities police and housing. In its review of piracy in the US the pressure group, funded by major software vendors, found that although four out of every five pieces of software is legally bought the remaining pirated material is costing the industry $11.4bn and local government $1.7bn in lost taxes. This would pay for 100 middle schools or 10,800 affordable housing units, or hire nearly 25,000 experienced police officers. "The United States may have the lowest PC software piracy rate in the world, but still, one out of every five pieces of software put into service is unlicensed," said BSA Vice President of Anti-Piracy and General Counsel Neil MacBride. "Not only is this a problem for the software industry, but piracy also creates major legal and security risks for the companies involved." "The most tragic aspect is that the lost revenues to tech companies and local governments could be supporting thousands of good jobs and much-needed social services in our communities," he said. The survey studied eight states and found significant local variation from the national piracy figure of 20 per cent. In California and Nevada the rate was 25 per cent, while this dropped down to 19 per cent in Florida and New York. ...