Of the 108 countries included in the report, the use of pirated software dropped in 67, and rose in only eight. However, because the worldwide PC market grew fastest in high-piracy countries, the worldwide PC software piracy rate increased by three percentage points to 38 per cent in 2007.
These are among the findings of the fifth annual global PC software piracy study released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), an international association representing the global software industry.
"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, as an IT leader, needs a concrete all-inclusive anti-piracy education, engagement and enforcement plan to effectively lower software piracy year on year," said Keshav S Dhakad, Chairman of the BSA India Committee .
Piracy rates in India have been on a gradual decline since the last three years. Government of India, industry bodies and software companies, while have been taking initiatives and making efforts to curb the menace of piracy, challenges at various fronts still remain.
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 ten percentage points over a period of four years could generate an additional 44,000 new jobs, $3.1 billion in economic growth, and $200 million in tax revenues.
