Software Piracy is Still a Very Big Problem in India: BSA

Business Software Alliance (BSA) has published a study and stated that in India, in 2009, the rate of software piracy was 65%. There was 3% decline compared to 2008 but still, the rate is higher compared to the average in the Asia Pacific region. As a result, software companies lost around $2 billion of potential revenue in the Indian market.

Keshav S Dhakad, Chair of the India BSA Committee has said that more actions have to be taken in the country to fight against software piracy effectively. Mr. Dhakad said, "BSA over the past 2-3 years has undertaken many policy and public outreach initiatives to work closely with all stakeholders towards improving education and awareness levels on IPR, threats and risks from piracy and Software Asset Management (SAM) practices for companies."

BSA praised the efforts of Indian government and particularly the efforts of Delhi High Court in fighting against piracy. It suggested that Indian government should not make any delay and set up a national anti-piracy task force.

Som Mittal, President of NASSCOM expressed his satisfaction over the decrease in piracy rate in India. Mr. Mittal said, "As a leading provider of IT services and application development, it is imperative that India strengthens its national eco-system to boost innovation and IT product development."

In other findings of the BSA study, it emerged that in Asia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan had highest rates of software piracy.