Software piracy in Romania reached a rate of 64 percent in 2010, with the value of counterfeit software products amounting to USD 195 million, according to a study from the Business Software Alliance.

“These data show that, although a drop in the piracy rate has been registered, there is much more work needed in this direction. The more we will manage to decrease the piracy rate, the better it will be for the industry and for the economy in general,” said Magda Popescu, lawyer with BSA.

The study also shows that users would like to use legal software, but don't know how to differentiate between pirated and legal products.

“There is an increase in the perception of the value generated by original software. On the other hands, the results show the need to educate users that software downloaded from peer-to-peer networks is often illegal, the same as installing software bought for one computers, on other computers,” Magda Popescu has added.

The commercial value of pirated software in Central and Eastern Europe was of over USD 5.5 billion in 2010. Globally, the amount reached over USD 59 billion, double on 2003. The piracy rate in emerging markets is 2.5 times higher than in developed economies, and the value of pirated software in these countries covers more than half of the global total.

You can get the full study here.

editor@romania-insider.com