BSA to launch Mideast school campaign against software piracy

Business Software Alliance (BSA), the international association established by the software industry to promote a safe and legal digital world, has initiated a fresh awareness and educational campaign jointly with regional authorities, stepping up its efforts to reduce software piracy in the Middle East.

The campaign involves holding a series of training programmes, seminars and conferences to influence consumer and businesses behaviour and to increase awareness about the advantages of using original software products, among various sections of society across the region. The move comes in line with BSA’s goal of creating a secure and legal environment for the growth and development of the regional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

The BSA campaign comes at a time when the region is witnessing increased adoption of ICT by home-users, educational institutions and public and private sector organisations. Recent Madar Research data reveals that the number of Internet users in the Middle East grew by 54.84% to touch 26 mln while the computer installed base expanded to 14 mln computers, reflecting a 29.24% increase in 2005. However, BSA argues that high levels of software piracy offset the benefits associated with increased levels of ICT usage.

It is initiatives such as BSA’s latest campaign, coupled with government and industry actions and the rapid influx of branded laptops taking market share from desktop systems supplied by local assemblers, that have resulted in a piracy drop in several countries in the Middle East and Africa, reveals the Third Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study released in May 2006.

The joint BSA and IDC study pointed out that for every two dollars’ worth of PC software purchased legitimately one dollar’s worth was obtained illegally during 2005. This trend saw governments in the Middle East and Africa region suffering huge revenue losses of over US $1.6 bln due to this illegal practice during 2005. Additionally, local software industries have been crippled by competition with pirated software.