The Economic Benefits of Reducing PC Software Piracy
Source: Business Software Alliance
From press release:

Reducing software piracy in the United States by just 10 percentage points over the next four years could generate more than 32,000 new jobs, $41 billion in economic growth, and $7 billion in tax revenues above current projections, according to a new study released today by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

While the United States has much to gain from reducing illegal software, high-piracy emerging economies like China, Russia and India could experience even more dramatic, positive impacts, the IDC study suggests.

The study, commissioned by BSA and conducted independently by International Data Corporation (IDC), notes that the information technology (IT) industry is already a major contributor to the American economy. In 2007, the United States spent nearly $458 billion on IT goods and services including computers, peripherals, network equipment, packaged software and IT services. That spending accounted for 3.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), supported more than 314,000 IT companies with 2.9 million IT industry employees, and helped generate $485 billion in IT-related taxes.

Yet the IT sector’s contribution to the US economy would be even greater if America’s 21 percent PC software piracy rate could be lowered to 11 percent by 2011, the study said. Such an improvement would add highly skilled jobs to the labor force, support the creation of new companies, lower business risks, and fund government services without a tax increase.

Individual studies (PDFs) available for 42 different countries, organized by region: Asia-Pacific, European Union, Rest of Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, North America.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Business and economics, Intellectual property, International, Labor, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.