Pirates cost $1.6bn a year
Channel is missing out on software-related services revenue because of counterfeiters
Software piracy in the UK is costing the IT industry $1.6bn a year and VARs are continuing to lose out on vital services revenue, research has claimed.
Despite repeated warnings, UK software piracy levels are still rising, according to the latest report from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and analyst IDC, which carried out a study into global piracy rates.
UK piracy now stands at 29 per cent. Europe's average is 37 per cent, while the global piracy rate is 36 per cent.
Duncan Brown, UK consulting director at IDC, said: "We carry out an annual piracy study for the BSA and this year the methodology has been slightly different. We have included operating system software and consumer software as well as business software. Open-source is also taken into account.
"In the UK one in three pieces of software used is illegal.
"For every dollar made by vendors, between one and two dollars are available in services revenue for the channel, which means it is missing out."
Last year IDC revealed that up to 40,000 extra jobs, many of them in the channel, could be created if the piracy rate was reduced by 10 per cent.
Siobhan Carroll, regional manager northern Europe at the BSA, said: "The message doesn't seem to be getting through. It is up to the channel to educate its customers and ensure they are using legal software and have the right asset management strategy in place.
"It is not just about vendors making a profit ? resellers are losing out financially as well because of piracy."