PC software piracy on the rise

More than a quarter of the software installed on computers in the UK is illegal, according to a report from the Business Software Alliance and IDC.

Industry losses due to software piracy in the UK amounted to £1.49bn in 2008 – the highest level ever.

According to researchers at IDC, consumers with reduced spending power may hold on to computers longer, which would tend to increase piracy because older computers are more likely to have unlicensed software loaded on them.

The report suggests that if piracy rates could be reduced it would create a "positive feedback loop" in that lower piracy motivates vendors to invest more, which leads to better, more abundant, and often cheaper software.

"With more than one in four software installations categorised as illegal in the UK, we cannot afford to give up the fight against software piracy," said Alyna Cope, spokesperson for the BSA UK country committee.

"Software piracy hurts our knowledge-based economy by weakening the very foundation on which it is built - respect for intellectual property and innovation."

On Tuesday, an alliance made up of representatives from the Federation Against Copyright Theft, the Publishers' Association, the UK Film Council, BPI and actor's union Equity called on the government to implement a three-strike policy to stem the flood of online piracy.

You can report software piracy to the BSA online.