The Recognition PR Newsroom

Inaugural BSA Software Piracy Sentiment Report reveals Australia’s attitude to software piracy

Sydney, February 24, 2010 – More than 88 per cent of Australian companies agree that the use of pirated or unlicensed software is a risk to their business, according to the inaugural Business Software Alliance (BSA) Software Piracy Sentiment Report, released today. The BSA suggests the other 12 per cent are still in the dark about the consequences of this illegal activity.

The study, commissioned by the BSA and conducted by marketing company Outsource, surveyed nearly 300 corporate IT decision makers, ranging from IT managers to CIOs, across various industries in Australia to gauge perceptions and attitudes of Australian businesses towards software piracy.

The BSA Software Piracy Sentiment Report revealed that only 43.6 per cent of Australian corporate decision-makers believe that reducing the use of unlicensed software in Australia will improve job prospects and the economy, and 22.4 per cent don’t know.

Clayton Noble, co-chair BSA Australia Committee said, “Australian IT managers may be unaware that reducing the software piracy rate in Australia by 10 per cent over four years could generate an additional 3,929 Australian jobs, US$438 million in tax revenues for Australian governments and an additional US$1.9 billion in revenues to local Australian IT vendors.”

Yet despite these findings by IDC, only 30 per cent of respondents would be prepared to report the use of unlicensed software to the BSA, and 32.7 per cent of respondents are unsure of whether they would report.

IT managers surveyed by the BSA are aware that the use of unlicensed software can be very costly to a company if they are caught. More than 88 per cent of respondents agreed that the use of pirated or unlicensed software is a risk to their business.

In addition, the survey shows that IT managers place the highest priority on security of their IT systems, believe that that inadvertently allowing malware into the network through the use of unlicensed software poses a “high risk” to their business.

Despite these risks the majority of respondents believe that the primary reason an Australian business may use pirated or unlicensed software is to try and reduce costs. They may be unaware of the costs that malware found in pirated software can cause in network down time and information security breaches.

In contrast to BSA’s experience in 2009 of significant growth in the number of software piracy cases that it settled and the amount of damages paid by Australian businesses, 93.2 per cent of survey respondents state they have systems in place to ensure that all software used is licensed and legal.

According to Clayton Noble, “The use of unlicensed software can be very costly to a company if caught, and may result in lawsuits, damages bills and bad publicity. Pirated software may also compromise information security and bring your network down.
“IT managers and company directors need to ensure that an effective software asset management system is in place and in use, to protect their businesses as well as their professional reputations.”

For further information, or to report the use of stolen software, please visit www.bsa.org/australia or call the toll-free hotline on 1800 021 143.

About BSA and Members
The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org/australia) is the foremost organisation dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world’s commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace.

Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world. BSA programs foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce.

BSA members include Adobe, Agilent Technologies, Altium, Apple, Aquafold, ARM,
Arphic Technology, Autodesk, Autoform, Bentley Systems, CNC/Mastercam, Corel,
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, Embarcadero, Frontline PCB Solutions – An Orbotech Valor Company, Layton Technology, Microsoft, Minitab, NedGraphics, Parametric Technology CorporationPTC, Quest Software, Scalable Software, Siemens, Sybase, Symantec, Tekla, and The MathWorks.