UK computer users are Europe's most honest

Posted on 11 Jun 2002 at 17:13

The UK has the lowest rate of software piracy in Western Europe, according to figures released today by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

Illegal copies accounted for 25 per cent of software in the UK in 2001, down one per cent on the previous year. Only Scandinavian countries come close to matching this, with Denmark recording 26 per cent and Finland 27 per cent. Leading European economies Germany and Italy are less impressive, with rates at 34 per cent - up from 28 per cent - and 45 per cent respectively, while nearly half - 46 per cent - of all software in France is pirated. Greece is Europe's worst offender by far, with 64 per cent of software being illegal.

Across Western Europe piracy rates rose three per cent overall, matching the total worldwide growth, and cost the software industry an estimated $2.7 billion (£1.8 billion).

In the UK the BSA's outreach programme reached more than 400,000 organisations in 2001, educating users about the risks of piracy and providing tools to facilitate software management. However the organisation is resisting complacency, as one in four pieces of software in the UK is still illegal, and stresses the damage to the UK economy that the piracy does.

'Software piracy,' said Mike Newton, BSA programme manager in the UK, 'continues to present an alarming problem to the UK economy, robbing the country of jobs, VAT and tax revenues.'

The BSA is calling for the European Union to introduce tougher legislation to tackle piracy, and, says Newton, will, 'continue working aggressively to educate customers and law enforcement agencies around the world that piracy is theft - plain and simple.'

The BSA monitors the use of illegal software worldwide and counts most of the major software companies, including Microsoft, Apple and Adobe, among its members. A list of software piracy rates in Europe and the countries with the highest rates worldwide can be found on its Web site.

Author: Simon Aughton