BSA has determined that the worldwide piracy rate for commercial software, which consists of software applications that are written and sold as packages by vendors, actually dropped 10 percent in 2002

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has determined that the worldwide piracy rate for commercial software, which consists of software applications that are written and sold as packages by vendors, actually dropped 10 percent in 2002. This drop was attributed in part to better awareness, better defined copyright laws, and more specific and severe punishments for perpetrators. But BSA said that all could be for naught if online piracy is not curbed. The Washington, D.C.-based group recently concluded its eight annual survey on global software piracy in which it found that pilfered software decreased in 2002 to 39 percent, down from a high of 49 percent in 1994, when BSA began tallying such totals. It is the first decline since 1999, when an all-time low of 36 percent was reported. The U.S. experienced an all-time piracy rate low of 23 percent, said BSA, which credited improved education as part of the reason for the lower figures. Every country except Zimbabwe has reduced its rate of piracy since 1994. However, there is a flipside to that coin. Though there were fewer charted cases of stolen applications, worldwide dollar losses due to piracy actually increased from $10.97 billion in 2001 to $13.08 billion in 2002, a mark-up of 19 percent. BSA said this can be attributed to higher software prices overall.