The cost of software piracy in the UK has risen to its
highest level at £1.49bn last year, with more than a quarter of all
products in the market now being illegal, an anti-piracy group
claims.
The annual figure for piracy has been issued by the Business
Software Alliance using IDC's numbers, which show that the overall
level of piracy has returned to 27%, the level it was for 2004-2006
after a drop to 26% in 2007.
Alyna Cope, spokesperson for the BSA UK country committee, said
the findings were a prompt for the industry and government to do
more to protect intellectual property.
"Much more needs to be done by the industry and the government
to warn businesses and consumers of the risks associated with
under-licensed software, from a legal, financial and operational
point of view," she said.
The claims come as the government is considering its response to
the Digital Britain report, which aims to get the country into a
more competitive position with its use of broadband.
Kevin Hoctor, senior policy advisor at the British Chambers of
Commerce, said there needed to be greater copyright protection to
safeguard that vision of a digital Britain.
"In the current economic climate, the impact effective
enforcement could have on employment and revenue should not be
ignored," he added.
John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC, said the recession
would have some negative impact on piracy, but as customers chose
to buy cheaper netbooks, with preloaded legitimate software, there
could also be positive repercussions.
The BSA has called on the government to take four steps to help
the software industry:
Support a light regulatory approach to software piracy and the
development of a code of practice between ISPs and right holders as
recommended by Ofcom and the government
Set about the formation of a body with a focus on enforcement
and education
Improve public education and awareness
Lead by example by requiring the public sector to use only
legitimate software
This story originally appeared onMicroScope.co.uk