Only two per cent of companies have responded to an anti-piracy audit asking if they are using fully licensed software.
The Business Software Alliance says it sent letters to 60,000 companies in January, with an audit form enclosed asking them to check the number of licensed and unlicensed software copies used in their offices. Only about 1,200 forms have been returned.
But the alliance said the two per cent response rate was not low given the voluntary nature of the exercise, which aimed to raise companies' awareness on software piracy.
Alliance vice-president Ringo Wong Chee-kao said many companies had chosen to phone to inquire about the audit but did not return the forms.
'We had several hundred companies calling our hotline a day at the peak. They asked about the law and how the audit should be done. It is difficult to speculate why they did not return the forms,' he said.
Mr Wong said the alliance would follow up with companies that had joined the audit to check if they needed help and would consider expanding the campaign to more companies.
Business owners or employees knowingly using pirated software at work could face up to four years in jail and $50,000 fines for every illegal software copy under the amended Copyright Ordinance that went into effect last April.
