Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Interactive Data Corporation (IDC) have concluded a research that shows an 8% drop in Romania’s software piracy rate during the last five years. 50% of the 110 countries featured in the study recorded a retreat in software piracy in 2008, while the piracy increased in 15% of the states. The losses caused by the software piracy have gone up in Romania, amounting to 249 billion dollars in 2008.

The software piracy rate in Romania was 66% in 2008, according to the latest BSA and IDC study. Romania’s software piracy rate went down 2 percentage points in 2008 and decreased with 8% during the last five years. Despite the fact that the software piracy rate declined in 57 countries and increased in only 16, the global software piracy rate grew by 3%. This is due to the fact that the PC world market has developed more rapidly in the countries with a high piracy level.

The software piracy rates soar in Georgia (95%), Armenia (92%), Azerbaijan (90%) and Moldova (90%). The software industry is least pirated in the Czech Republic (38%), Hungary (42%) and Slovakia (43%). Russia impressed by a drop of 19% in the software piracy rate during the last six years.

Chief Research Officer IDC John Gantz notes that the recession might prolong the reliance on piracy in developing countries. Nevertheless, companies are more likely to spend on niche software license. Cheap notebooks soon to be launched in the developing economies will feature pre-installed software. This is the sixth annual study concluded by BSA, an international association representing the world’s software industry. Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Interactive Data Corporation (IDC) have concluded a research that shows an 8% drop in Romania’s software piracy rate during the last five years. 50% of the 110 countries featured in the study recorded a