Piracy of software on PC in India fell to 69 percent in 2007 from 71 percent
in 2006, amid a global trend in which piracy rates dropped in most countries.
However, industry losses due to software piracy in India rose to $2 billion in
2007 as compared to $1.28 billion in 2006.
These are among the findings of the fifth annual global PC software piracy
study released by Business Software Alliance (BSA). The study covers 108
countries and was conducted by IDC.
“This report shows that we are making progress in the battle against software
piracy, albeit slowly as compared to other nations like Russia, whose piracy
rate dropped by seven points in 2007. India needs a concrete all-inclusive
anti-piracy education, engagement and enforcement plan to effectively lower
software piracy YoY. This could be achieved if there is a right mix of
improvement at all levels, in particular, raising general public awareness,
establishing specialized intellectual property rights (IPR) courts, creating
uniform and equipped IPR Police Cells and fostering greater
government-industry-private partnerships,” said Keshav S Dhakad, Chair, BSA
India Committee. “Studies have consistently shown that reducing piracy further
would deliver significant benefits for local consumers, local software and
services firms, small businesses, government tax collections, and the society
and economy at large,” added Dhakad.
Piracy rates in India have been on a gradual decline since the last three
years. While the Government of India, industry bodies and software companies,
have been taking initiatives and making efforts to curb the menace of piracy,
challenges at various fronts still remain. Among the courts of the Nation, the
Delhi High Court has been pro-active in attacking software piracy quite
effectively. The need of the hour is for the government to make consistent
efforts to see an even greater drop in piracy levels, which would greatly
benefit the Indian economy and make it internationally more competitive.
Software piracy affects much more than just the industry revenues. An IDC
economic impact study released in January this year found that by reducing PC
software piracy in India by 10 percent over a period of four years an additional
44,000 new jobs, $3.1 billion in economic growth, and $200 million in tax
revenues could be generated. The study also predicted an additional $208 million
in revenues to local vendors alone.
“This study shows that government and industry anti-piracy efforts are
delivering software piracy reductions in many countries; however, rapid PC
growth in higher-piracy emerging markets translates into an overall increase in
global piracy,” said John Gantz, Chief Research Officer, IDC. “We expect this
trend to continue, meaning industry and government must increasingly focus their
efforts on combating piracy in these emerging economies,” said Grantz.