Software piracy level marks marginal decrease in Middle East during 2004

This was announced at a press conference held in Dubai today by Jawad Al Redha, Co-Chairman, Business Software Alliance, Middle East (BSA) while presenting the findings of the global software piracy study.

According to the study, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Algeria and Morocco showed a marginal decrease in piracy, while in other GCC countries the levels remained relatively stable. Among GCC countries, Oman was at 64 per cent, Kuwait - 68 per cent, Bahrain - 62 per cent and Qatar - 62 per cent. The total loss due to software piracy in the Middle East and North-Africa region stood at US$ 1.2 billion.

The UAE piracy levels were lower than some developed countries including France (45 %), Greece (62 %), Ireland (38 %), Portugal (40 %) and Spain (43 %). The UAE's piracy levels fell in the same bracket as UK (27 %) and Australia (32 %).

Globally, software piracy dropped by 1 per cent to 35 per cent, with the United States having the lowest piracy rate of 21 per cent, against 22 per cent in 2003. According to the study, global retail losses due to software piracy stood at a US$ 32.7 billion, signalling that software piracy continued to be a major challenge for economies worldwide.

Speaking at the press conference, Al-Redha, said: "The key message of the new study is that software piracy levels has more or less remained stagnant in the Middle East and North-Africa region, and most countries in the region have only succeeded in reducing piracy levels marginally."

"The study has to be viewed from the perspective of what has already been achieved over the past few years. It is commendable that between 1994 and 2002, the Middle East and Africa region recorded the most significant reduction in software piracy, with a drop of 31 points, from 80 per cent to 49 per cent," added Al Redha. "We would like to thank the governments and the trade in joining hands with BSA to mount sustained campaigns against software piracy."

"In this context, the achievements of the UAE have to be highlighted because both regionally and globally the UAE has emerged as a prime example of what can be achieved with government support," said Al Redha. "The success of the UAE has translated into major business deals in IT, consolidating the country's roles as the regional knowledge hub. Regional countries have a lot to learn from the UAE."

"Business Software Alliance stepped up its anti-piracy programmes across the region during 2004, as part of its commitment to protect intellectual property rights of software developers," said Al Redha. "We continued to develop relationships with different government authorities to orchestrate campaigns and recommend stiff action against violators of intellectual property rights. Reducing software piracy remains a challenging task, but we believe that with the support of authorities and increased awareness among the trade and the public we are poised to make further progress during 2005."

The study was conducted by IDC (International Data Corporation), the IT industry's leading global market research and forecasting firm. IDC was able to extend BSA's view into piracy beyond PC software to categories not covered in previous studies such as operating systems, consumer-oriented software and local language software. With ongoing coverage of hardware and software markets in over 93 countries and with 60 per cent of its analyst force outside the United States, IDC started with a deep and broad information base for developing the 2004 software piracy rates.

The IDC study has concluded that software piracy continues to be a major challenge for economies worldwide. The study also found that local economies suffered greatly from software piracy due to loss of jobs.