A recent survey by the Business Software Alliance and Software and Information Industry Association has found that 38% of new business software applications installed worldwide during 1998 were pirated. The number, representing 231 million applications out of a total of 615 million, was an increase of 2.5 million pirated applications over the previous year.
Losses for the global industry were estimated at $11bn in 1998. Vietnam posted the highest piracy rate of 97%, with China on 95% and Indonesia 92%. But in terms of monetary losses, Asia Pacific moved to second place, dropping from $3.9bn in 1997 to $3bn in 1998, while North America moved to the number one slot with $3.2bn in losses, 26% of the worldwide total. Hong Kong saw the greatest fall in piracy rates, dropping from 67% in 1997 to 59% in 1998.
