Thousands of jobs and billions of dollars lost because of counterfeit software
Tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars were lost in Hong Kong and the mainland last year due to software piracy, according to a US survey.
Hong Kong lost US$82.3 million in software revenue due to a 56 per cent piracy rate, compared with 53 per cent in 2001.
The mainland lost US$2.4 billion because of its software piracy rate of 92 per cent, unchanged from 2001.
The survey, commissioned by the Washington DC-based international software industry association, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), examined business sector piracy only.
The mainland and Hong Kong together accounted for nearly half of the US$5.5 billion lost in software revenue in the Asia-Pacific region through piracy last year.