The software industry contributes greatly to economies world-wide. Indeed, in Western Europe alone, the packaged software industry generates directly and indirectly over one million jobs and billions of euros in annual tax revenues. Of course, the benefits of business software go well beyond jobs and tax revenues. At the most basic level, the use of IT boosts creativity and productivity while reducing costs. And software makes the Internet and e-commerce possible.
Unfortunately, software industry contributions are undermined by software theft. More than one in three copies of software in use in Western Europe is unlicensed. This phenomenon, known as software piracy, robs the software industry in Europe of billions of euros each year and undermines industry’s ability to create and innovate. Software piracy also deprives EU Member States of over 200,000 jobs and well over €9 billion in annual tax revenues. This problem is even worse in Eastern Europe, where piracy rates are often twice the Western European average.
The solution to software theft lies partly in public education and awareness activities. The BSA and its members invest significant resources in educating users about copyright and its value. Education alone is not always adequate to deter software pirates, however. Strong enforcement measures are essential to communicate the message that software theft, like any other crime, does not pay.
To this end, the BSA encourages policy makers to act decisively to eradicate software piracy by making it more expensive and more risky to engage in software theft than to obey the law. The BSA strongly supports initiatives undertaken by the EU and national governments to improve their intellectual property enforcement regimes. We are especially hopeful that the EU’s proposed “Enforcement Directive” will provide strong tools to fight software theft, including deterrent level damages that reflect the full economic value of piracy and the availability of speedy and efficient surprise (ex parte) search orders in both civil and criminal cases.
