BSA study shows the impacts of using pirated software

Low-income countries have the most to gain from legal software 

 

An unprecedented study by BSA (The Software Alliance) and Insead, one of the most respected business schools in the world, indicates that the increased use of licensed software would have a much greater impact on the Brazilian economy than a similar growth in the use of software pirate.
 
An increase of 1% in the use of properly licensed software would generate an estimated value of US$ 1.4 billion in national production, double the value associated with a similar increase in the use of pirated software: US$ 743 million, i.e. legal software would offer an additional economic value of US$ 743 million.
 
The Impact of Legitimate Software is an analysis that uses data from 95 countries to demonstrate the benefits of using properly licensed software to national economies. The study confirms that increasing the use of licensed software corresponds to substantial positive gains in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
 
“The use of duly licensed software reduces risks and increases operational efficiency, which is directly reflected in commercial results”, says BSA's director in Brazil, Frank Caramuru. “This study confirms that properly licensed software is not only good for business, but also an important force in national economic growth. Brazil's government, law enforcement agencies and industry should take every opportunity to reap these potential benefits by reducing piracy and promoting the use of properly licensed software."
 
The study also indicates that each additional dollar invested in legal software represents an estimated return on investment of US$ 59, while the return on each dollar of pirated software in circulation is only US$ 26.
 
Signaling that low-income countries have the most to gain from the use of legal software, in terms of absolute value, the return on investment on using properly licensed software is much higher in developing countries — US$437 in extra GDP , average. Even so, countries at all income levels benefit: each additional dollar invested in licensed software has an average return of US$117 in high-income countries and US$140 in middle-income countries.
 
According to the BSA and Insead study, governments and companies should act in the following areas: establishing modern and robust intellectual property laws that protect software and other copyrighted material on PCs, on handheld devices and in the cloud; strengthening compliance with intellectual property laws with dedicated resources; public awareness of the risks of software piracy; leadership through the use of fully licensed software and implementation of software asset management programs.