Reducing software piracy by just 10 percentage points worldwide would generate 1.5 million jobs and add $400 billion to the world economy, according to a study released Wednesday by the Business Software Alliance and IDC.
The BSA, composed of giant software vendors such as Microsoft, IBM, and Apple Computer, pegs the percentage of software programs pirated globally at 40 percent. The IDC study, commissioned by the BSA, concludes that reducing that rate to 30 percent would enable nations to add a total of $64 billion to their tax coffers.
In the study, IDC assessed the impact of information technology on 57 countries that account for 98 percent of the world's IT market. According to the BSA, about two-thirds of those 57 countries have reduced piracy by 10 percentage points since 1996; the BSA sees a drop of another 10 percentage points as a "realistic and achievable goal." A drop of 1 percentage point would raise $6 billion in new tax revenues, according to the study.
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News source: PCworld
The BSA, composed of giant software vendors such as Microsoft, IBM, and Apple Computer, pegs the percentage of software programs pirated globally at 40 percent. The IDC study, commissioned by the BSA, concludes that reducing that rate to 30 percent would enable nations to add a total of $64 billion to their tax coffers.
In the study, IDC assessed the impact of information technology on 57 countries that account for 98 percent of the world's IT market. According to the BSA, about two-thirds of those 57 countries have reduced piracy by 10 percentage points since 1996; the BSA sees a drop of another 10 percentage points as a "realistic and achievable goal." A drop of 1 percentage point would raise $6 billion in new tax revenues, according to the study.
View: Full Story News source: PCworld
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