The strength of global software sales means the world economy has more than ever to lose to software pirates.
So concludes the latest study by the Business Software Alliance, which found that global software sales rose from $US118.4 billion in 1996 to $US135.4 billion last year. However, the study also found that 40 percent of the PC software used in businesses worldwide was unlicensed. The pirate software had a market value of $US11.4 billion.
The study, released Tuesday by the BSA, was conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Financial Advisory Services and Nathan Associates.
"This report confirms the fact that the software industry has emerged as a powerful engine of economic growth both in the United States and abroad," BSA President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Holleyman said in a statement. "In addition, the industry is creating high-wage jobs all over the world."
The software industry directly and indirectly created more than 1.3 million jobs worldwide during the two years studied. In the U.S., software industry workers earn an average salary of $US57,319, more than twice the average wages of other American workers at $US27,845, he said.
Among the report's key contentions:
Software industry revenues outside the U.S. will reach $US116.9 billion by 2001;
The industry's growth will yield an additional 323,000 jobs worldwide by 2001, providing employment for a total of more than a million people outside the U.S.; and
More than a million Americans will be employed in the software industry by 2005.
The report also estimates that if the industry's growth rate continues at the current level, countries outside the U.S. will reap $US34 billion in tax revenues in 2001.
"Few sectors of the global economy can expect to exceed the performance of the software industry," according to the report, which calls the industry "the heart of the 'Information Society' -- that culmination of information technology and communications developments now heralding a new industrial revolution."
The spectre of piracy
Piracy -- the unauthorized production, copying and distribution of copyrighted software products -- continues to impede the industry's growth, the report concludes. The estimated piracy rate for PC business software in the U.S. last year was 27 percent, while in other nations the piracy rate is much higher. Vietnam is the worst offender, with a software piracy rate for businesses of 98 percent, according to the report.
A significant reduction in piracy rates could produce an additional 771,000 jobs and $US22.9 billion in tax revenues outside the U.S., and an additional 216,000 jobs and $US1.6 billion in tax revenues in the U.S., the report states.
Also detailed in the report is the software industry's impact on government revenues. The industry contributed $US7.2 billion in tax revenues to the U.S. government in 1996 and 1997, and $US21 billion in tax revenues to foreign governments, according to the report. Assuming the industry continues to experience the same rate of growth it has for the last few years, it could contribute $US34 billion in tax revenues to non-U.S. governments by 2001, the report states.
