Macromedia to stamp out software pirates

Macromedia has announced it will step up its anti-piracy campaign in Asia Pacific to clamp down on unlicensed software users.

Global software organisation Macromedia is working with the Business Software Alliance (BSA), its distributors, and local law enforcement to locate and prosecute companies or individuals selling illegal copies of its software.

"In some cases, owing to poor asset management, some companies may not even be aware that the software they are using may, in fact, be illegal," Macromedia's Asia Pacific Manager Marcus Chu said.

Due to a high rate of illegal software being distributed locally, the company is targeting the Asia-Pacific region in particular.

According to figures released by BSA, Asia-Pacific accounted for 47 percent of pirated software used worldwide in 1999, causing a revenue loss of US$2.8 billion.

Furthermore, Australia's annual piracy rate is estimated to be 32 percent, which is seven percent higher than that of the United States, which comes in at 25 percent.

The 1999 software piracy estimates indicate that more than one in every three business software applications in use last year, was pirated.

"One third of software in Australia is pirated," Business Software Alliance Australia (BSAA) chairman Jim McNamara told ZDNet.

BSAA is an affiliate of global organisation Business Software Alliance.

It says Macromedia's steps are complimentary to BSA's own anti-piracy efforts.

"It is complimentary that individual companies target their own markets with what BSA is doing," he said.