The claimed loss is the result of a rise in the piracy rate -- for the third year in a row -- to an average of 55 percent across the Asia Pacific region, its highest level since 1996. The growth is partly the result of a large increase in demand for software in China, which has the highest piracy rate for software in the Asia Pacific region.
The figure comes from the eighth annual Global Software Piracy Study 2002, which also found that the piracy rate in Australia remained steady at an estimated 32 percent, which the BSA claims equates to losses of around AU$220 for the year. New Zealand's software piracy rate fell to 24 percent in the survey.
In fact, the piracy rate in Australia is also higher than that of the US (23 percent) and the UK (26 percent). Jim Macnamara, chairman of the Business Software Association of Australia said the fact the piracy rate had hovered around 32 percent since 1996 was a sign that not enough was being done in Australia to protect intellectual property such as software.
"Australia as a developed country with visions of being a leader in the Information Age and harbouring local IT development, should be comparable with the US, UK and countries like New Zealand. However, the research shows Australia lagging in copyright enforcement behind other developed countries," said Macnamara.
The BSAA claims that a 10 percent reduction in software piracy would add 1.1 million new jobs and US$170 billion in additional economic growth to the Asia Pacific region, based on a worldwide study that assumed a linear correlation between lower software piracy and revenue growth in the software industry.
