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Business Software Alliance (BSA), the international association established by the software industry to promote a safe and legal digital world, has announced that counterfeit software use in Bahrain has held steady despite an expanding IT market, with counterfeit software use in 2005 and 2006 remaining at 60 per cent of overall software demand.
The results were compiled in an annual international IDC study commissioned on behalf of the BSA to determine the impact of piracy across the globe. The 2006 IDC study surveys 102 countries worldwide.
Jawad Al Redha, co-chairman, Business Software Alliance, Middle East said: “Bahrain’s IT industry has been witnessing a period of expansion, resulting in an increased demand for software that was met through legitimate as well as counterfeit channels.”
IDC estimates that the Middle East lost up to $1,997 million in pirated software, and notes that the regional average rate of software piracy was 60 per cent in 2006, up three per cent from 2005.
The study notes that rapid growth in high piracy IT markets drove up regional averages, even though 15 of the 22 Middle Eastern countries surveyed actually posted downturns in piracy figures.
