INTERNET LAW - Western Europe possesses low software piracy rate; Central and Eastern Europe struggle to catch up

The software piracy record in Europe is mixed, according to the recently released Third Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study.  Some countries, including Austria and Finland, have some of the lowest piracy rates in the world, while the rates in other countries including Russia and Ukraine - while still unacceptably high - have experienced the largest decreases in the world. Still, most of the software in Central and Eastern Europe is illegal. Industry officials believe this situation will improve as markets stabilize and the standard of living in these countries improves. High piracy regions are also high market growth regions, according to the study, which points out that IT spending in Russia in the next five years is expected to grow between 15 and 20 percent.

"Russia's four percentage point drop is the result of government and industry efforts to lower piracy, as well as an increase in the shipments of laptop computers, which are more often from branded original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) than from local assemblers" the study explains. "But resellers also report that more consumers seem willing to buy legitimate software as the standard of living rises along with Russia's economic growth. Similar trends are taking place in Ukraine, where piracy dropped six percentage points."

The increasing software piracy rates in Italy, Portugal, Spain and France, which have grown between two and three percentage points in the last year, also worry industry officials. "In these countries and in France, part of the issue is the number of small businesses and consumers in the market, which makes enforcement more difficult," the study points out, adding that at $3.2 billion (about $2.5 billion euros), France ranks third in global losses from software piracy, behind the United States and China.     

Austria and Finland have the lowest software piracy rates in Western Europe and the third and fourth lowest in the world, after the United States and New Zealand. In both countries only 26% of the software used is illegal, compared to the United States and New Zealand, where 21% and 23% of the software is illegal. Finland has experienced a 3% point drop in piracy during the year, according to the study. Other Western European countries with low software piracy rates include: Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (27%); Belgium (28%); and the Netherlands and Norway (30%).

Rates in the remaining Western European countries are higher than the average software piracy rate in Western Europe of 35% and in the European Union of 36%. Ireland has a 37% piracy rate, while rates in Portugal (43%), Malta (45%), Spain (46%), and France (47%) surpass 40%. In Italy, the rate reaches 53%. Greece has the highest piracy rate in Western Europe. In that country, 64% of the software used is illegal.

In Central and Eastern Europe, at 40%, the Czech Republic has the lowest piracy rate in the region, followed by Hungary (42%); Slovakia (47%); and Slovenia (50%). More than half of the software used in Estonia (54%); Croatia, Latvia and Lithuania (57%); and Poland (58%) is illegal. The piracy rates in the remaining Central and Eastern European countries included in the study - Bosnia (69%); Macedonia (70%); Bulgaria (71%); Romania (72%); Albania (76%); Serbia/Montenegro (81%); Russia (83%); Kazakhstan (85%) and Ukraine (85%) - as well as the overall Central and Eastern European rate (69%), remain dramatically high. Almost all the software used in the countries included under the "Other CIS" entry or 96% is illegal.      

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