Arrr, matey – don’t go shopping your bootleg software in Alberta.
The province’s software piracy rate ranks below the national average of 38 per cent, a new report by the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST) suggests. Only Quebec had a lower piracy rate, at 32.4 per cent.
But pirated technology is still costing the Alberta economy millions of dollars in lost retail sales, salaries and jobs, the independent probe indicates.
The alliance of software publishers said last week that Alberta’s piracy rate sits at 34 per cent – two per cent less than it was in 2000 and four points under the national piracy rate of 38 per cent. That said, software piracy cost Alberta $20 million in retail sales of business software applications, $126 million in wage and salary losses, and more than 3,000 jobs in 2001, according to the report.
“The results of this study send a strong warning that unless the software piracy rate continues to decrease, Alberta’s economy will continue to lose millions of dollars in wages and tax revenues,” notes CAAST president Allan Steel.
“Businesses that break copyright laws often don’t realize the effect their actions have on the economy. Canada’s statutory damages provisions, which set the fine for copyright infringement at up to $20,000 per work infringed, should be a powerful deterrent to businesses that commit this crime.”
CAAST suggests businesses and consumers become aware of the impact of software piracy through measures that include:
* Adopting a corporate policy on compliance with copyright laws.
* Auditing company computers, documenting software purchases and understanding licensing agreements.
* Educating management and employees about their obligations under copyright laws.
* Beware of prices that are “too good to be true.”
The study was conducted for CAAST (www.caast.org) and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) by International Planning and Research Corporation (IPR).
