Emtec »

Accueil Adviser Articles Emtec Adviser- Reduce Piracy, Boost the Economy

Emtec Adviser- Reduce Piracy, Boost the Economy

The economy continues to struggle, and many businesses are looking for ways to cut costs and boost revenues to spur recovery. Reducing software piracy could do just that, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and global IT market research and forecasting firm IDC. Reducing software piracy creates a ripple effect throughout the economy, generating new spending on related IT services and distribution. That spending, in turn, creates jobs and delivers new tax revenues — and the faster the reduction in software piracy, the greater the returns.

Software piracy includes any unauthorized copying, distribution or use of copyrighted software. It is a big business worldwide. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk recently released the first annual report on so-called “notorious markets,” which include online and physical locations around the world where piracy and counterfeiting is rampant. These pirates cost the IT industry $51 billion globally, while sapping competitiveness and innovation.

Reducing software piracy boosts the economy beyond its actual costs because of the so-called “multiplier effect.” Experts say that for every $1 spent on legitimate packaged software, an additional $1.25 is spent on related services from local vendors such as installing the software, training personnel and providing maintenance services.

Think Globally

The BSA/IDC study documented the impact of reducing piracy rates by 10 percentage points in 42 countries. The data show that such a reduction over the next four years would produce $142 billion in new economic activity, with more than 80 percent accruing to local industries. The reduction would also create nearly 500,000 high-tech jobs and generate roughly $32 billion in new tax revenues worldwide. Frontloading the gain by reducing piracy 10 points in two years compounds the economic benefits by 36 percent, producing $193 billion in new economic activity and generating $43 billion in new tax revenues by 2013.

BSA believes that software theft can be effectively reduced around the world by promoting education about the value of intellectual property and the business practice of managing and optimizing software assets through software asset management. Governments should commit to legal software use through active software asset management policies and promote legal software use by all government agencies, state-owned enterprises, contractors and suppliers.

BSA also recommends implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Copyright Treaty to create an effective legislative environment for copyright protection, online and offline. The World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement also requires strong and workable intellectual property enforcement mechanisms, including providing for vigorous enforcement of misappropriation and infringement of new software innovations such as cloud technologies. These legal tools should be used to support dedicated resources for enforcement of intellectual property laws, including specialized enforcement units, and improved cross-border cooperation among law enforcement agencies.

Benefit Locally

Although these actions target pirates who sell thousands of unlicensed copies of software, making just one extra copy of an application — whether for profit or not — constitutes software piracy. Thus, businesses should examine their own practices to ensure that they are complying with software license requirements.

Software compliance benefits individual businesses by reducing the risk of legal fees, fines and penalties, which can be as high as $150,000 per infringement. Eliminating pirated software also reduces security risks — pirated software is unsupported, potentially defective, and often harbors viruses, worms and other malware.

Establishing a software asset management process also helps organizations evaluate their software needs, maximize IT investments and improve overall performance. Unneeded software is systematically removed to free up space on existing hardware as well as to control licensing and support costs. Those budget dollars can then be reallocated to software purchases and upgrades that improve productivity and deliver competitive advantage.

A lot of businesses are worried about the economy right now, and many could take a positive step by scrutinizing their servers and desktops for unlicensed software. By eliminating pirated software, organizations can do a lot to help the economy — and their own bottom lines.