Hackers: Hooray, The Pirated Software Is Still Popular!

The Business Software Alliance conducted a new market research that revealed that no more than 35 percent of the computers are running at least one pirated software application. According to the research, the biggest piracy rate was discovered in the Central and Eastern Europe with 68 percent, followed by the Latin America with no more than 66 percent. The organization revealed that in 51 countries included in the study, the piracy rate exceeded 60 percent, while in no more than one third of the nations, the rate was over 75 percent.

"The good news is we are making progress, however, we still have a lot of work to do to reduce unacceptable levels of piracy. These significant losses translate into negative impacts on IT industry employment, revenues, and financial resources available for future innovation and the development of new technologies," said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman.

Russia, one of the countries that was famous for its impressive piracy rate, evolved and managed to reduce the amount of pirated software. According to the research, the Russian piracy rate was decreased by seven percentage levels, having an 80 percent rate in 2006 compared to 87 percent recorded in 2003. China was also known for its huge piracy rate but it seems that the local authorities managed to obtain a 10 percent drop in 2006, having an 82 percentage in the last year, reducing it from 92 percent in 2003.

"Considering the vast PC growth taking place in the Chinese IT market, this continued decline in China's software piracy rate is quite promising. BSA is encouraged by the commitment from the Chinese government to ensure legal software use. We look forward to continued dialogue between the US and China aimed at addressing issues that affect both economies," the same official sustained, according to a press release.