In the latest BSA Global Software Piracy Study, Taiwan improved for the fifth consecutive year to finish No. 3 in Asia, trailing Japan with 20 percent and Singapore with 34 percent.
“This continuing improvement stems from public and private sector efforts aimed at promoting intellectual property rights protection and supporting licensed software purchases by individuals and businesses,” the BSA said.
Taiwan remained 23rd out of 116 economies covered by the survey, with the U.S., Japan and Luxembourg leading the world with their 20-percent rates.
“Taiwan has done well in recent years, recording a 6-percentage-point reduction since 2003,” the BSA said. “This saw it outperform the global and Asian averages of 42 percent and 60 percent respectively.”
But the country has not been as aggressive in combating software piracy as Hong Kong, Singapore or South Korea, which outperformed Taiwan by 1 percentage point over the same period. “There is still a lot of room for improvement,” the BSA said.
The BSA estimates that software theft cost Taiwan a record US$230 million last year. Global losses hit US$59 billion, largely due to rampant piracy in emerging markets. (JSM)
Write to Meg Chang at meg.chang@mail.gio.gov.tw