(6 March 2007 2:30 pm)

BANGALORE: The total value of software seized in 2006 in the more than 200 anti-piracy raids carried out across the country is $2.1 million.

The raids were conducted by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and its member companies collectively and individually. BSA has vowed to step up enforcement actions in 2007 to further bring down piracy rates.

Jeffrey J Hardee, BSA vice president and regional director, Asia-Pacific, said, "In over 200 actions that have been conducted by BSA and its member companies in 2006, we had found widespread use and sale of pirated software across Indian cities. With the high software piracy rate in India, it is important to highlight efforts of the industry in combating piracy through enforcement."

The BSA and its members have carried out raids in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Hyderabad in 2006.

As per the findings of the BSA-IDC study of 2005, the rate of PC software piracy in 2005 was 72 per cent. According to the statistics, the Indian software industry lost revenue to the tune of of $566 million in 2005.

Hardee added, "BSA adopts a three pronged strategy i.e. spreading the awareness on the perils of piracy, training and education of users including use of specialized tools like software asset management (SAM) and enforcement, in addressing software piracy around the globe. Whilst enforcement is a last resort, it is an important part of our approach as it serves to underline the seriousness of the matter."

Pirated software that has been seized includes those from Adobe, Autodesk, McAfee, Microsoft and Symantec.

The BSA maintains a close working relationship with the government and industry associations in India such as Nasscom. According to an economic impact study conducted by IDC, if the piracy rate is reduced by 10 points by 2009, India could benefit with an additional 115,000 new IT jobs; an additional $ 5.9 billion pumped into its economy and increased tax revenues of $ 386 million.