Unlicensed software use in Sri Lanka in 2010 was at 86%, down however by 3 % from 2009 figures, the biggest drop by any country in the Asia Pacific region. On the other hand, the commercial value of pirated software used island-wide was US$ 83 million in 2010, up from US$ 77 million in 2009 due to increased personal computer (PC) adoption.
These details have emerged in the 2010 Global Software Piracy Study, carried out by international market research firm IDC and sponsored by global anti piracy lobby Business Software Alliance (BSA), which counts Apple, Microsoft, Intel, etc. amongs its key members.
The survey also shows that 60% of software used in Asia Pacific PCs during 2010 was pirated, valued at US$ 18.7 billion. This was out of US$ 59 billion in losses worldwide.
This is compared to 59% (US$ 16.5 billion) in 2009. Also noted, while Sri Lanka and its neighbours had some of the highest piracy rates in the world, India (64%), Bangladesh (90%) and Pakistan (84%), it was Georgia, in Eastern Europe, which was singled out as being the biggest offender in terms of software piracy at 93%.
Also noted was that 50% of the 116 geographies studied in 2010 showed software piracy rates of 62% or above, with the global average at 42%. At the same time, it was pointed out that developing countries were the "driving force behind PC software piracy" with rates being 2.5 times greater here than anywhere else.
Additionally cited as a reason for increased software piracy, a 9% growth in PC adoption by end consumers over the last three years, compared to business users was said to be "significant because consumers tend to install more software per computer than do enterprises."
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