Piracy's Economic Impact

The economic losses caused by software piracy are staggering. A study commissioned by the Business Software Alliance in 1999 found the following effects:

• 25% of the business software applications installed on PCs in the U.S. were pirated

• 107,000 lost jobs

• $5.3 billion in wages lost

• $1.8 billion in lost tax revenue

Worldwide, the software industry generates more than $28 billion in tax revenues annually. If piracy were eliminated in the U.S. and reduced abroad, it is estimated that the industry would produce an additional 1 million jobs by 2005 and contribute $25 billion in tax revenues. In 1999:

• The Worldwide piracy rate was 36%

• $12 billion in revenue was lost

Legal costs and fines
Abuse of software licenses can result in financial penalties, legal costs, and damaged reputation. Additionally, executives of the company can be held individually liable, both criminally and civilly, for any copyright infringement that occurs within the organization.

Damaged reputation
Abusing software licenses can damage your company's reputation and even hurt individual contributors.

Viruses that can harm computers and networks
Unauthorized software can often contain viruses with the potential to damage both individual computers and entire networks. Viruses can and do cause data loss, which would be devastating to most companies. Why risk it?

Ineligibility for technical support or product upgrades
When using unlicensed software, you are not eligible for technical support from the software publisher. If you have a technical issue in need of resolution, often times a work-stopping issue, you are out of luck. In addition, product upgrades-less expensive upgrades of existing products-are not available to you.

Software compatibility issues
Unlicensed software may cause incompatibility between programs that would normally function together seamlessly.

Inefficiency of employees
Legal costs and fines, damaged reputation, computer viruses, ineligibility for technical support and software compatibility issues all negatively affect the efficiency of employees

Saves money
Good software asset management can help you determine what software you need—and which programs you don't. It can also help you take advantage of volume license discounts offered by many software publishers and determine how to most efficiently deploy software across your organization.

Manage technological change
Software management can help your company identify it's software needs, avoid obsolescence, and ensure proper technology to help meet business goals.

Alleviate communication and data transfer problems
In organizations where technology has proliferated without controls, many different software platforms and versions may exist, contributing to communication problems. Managing software can help address and resolve these issues, improving workflow and efficiencies.

Justify investments in technology
Managing software can help organizations understand the value they receive from their software investment as well as identify parts of the organization that may be in need of software upgrades or new software programs.

Invest in the economy
Consumers benefit from the use of legal software as it positively impacts both the local and national economies.

Growth and Development
The high-tech industry is one of the strongest segments of our economy. Protection of the industry's intellectual property will allow the software industry to grow and prosper, and thereby contribute even more to the economy.

Call today to schedule a Software Compliancy Evaluation!