More than 60 percent of all computer software installed in the Asia-Pacific region last year was unlicensed, the worst of any region, despite growing economies and anti-piracy efforts, an industry watchdog said yesterday.
The Software Alliance — which includes giants like Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, Intel Corp, Oracle Corp and Adobe Systems Inc — said in a report that unlicensed software in Asia had a value of US$19.1 billion last year.
Piracy rates were most rampant in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia at more than 80 percent. The global piracy average was 39 percent.
According to the Software Alliance’s Taiwan Web site, up to 36 percent of Taiwan’s computers used unauthorized software, down 2 percentage points from 2013.
The Web site said that the decline in the use of unauthorized software in Taiwan reflected the overall PC demand in the local market, where both commercial and consumer demand have withered, while white-brand PC shipments have continued to fall in recent years.
While the worldwide piracy rate decreased by 4 percentage points from 2013, Asia saw only a 1 percentage point decline to 61 percent over the two-year period, said the report, which did not cover mobile devices.
The report resulted from a survey of 22,000 computer users and 2,000 IT decisionmakers and includes business, operating system, gaming and security software.
The group’s Asia-Pacific senior director Tarun Sawney called for more action to address the problem of unlicensed software, particularly for key sectors like banking.
“Whilst there’s still been improvement from two years ago on the use of unlicensed software, the rate is still too high and certainly in emerging economies, a lot of which are in Asia-Pacific, the problem still persists,” Sawney told a news conference.
The report cited a “disconnect” between businesses’ concern about cybersecurity and their attitude to unlicensed software.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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