Piracy declines slightly in Belgium

15 May 2007

BRUSSELS – Piracy cost software manufacturers slightly less in Belgium last year than in the previous year. This emerged on Tuesday from a study conducted by research bureau IDC and commissioned by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), an organisation that fights the use of illegal software.

The degree of piracy in the country fell from 28 to 27 percent. The loss of income to software manufacturers on the local level was calculated at USD 220 million, a decrease of USD 35 million.

Belgium is doing better than many other countries in this respect. The ongoing decline in software piracy in the country is “partly the result of persistent information campaigns about legal software organised by BSA,” explains Jacco Brand, chairman of BSA Benelux.

Despite this positive evolution, the fact remains that one in four software packages are being used illegally. This costs the sector, and by extension the local economy, income and jobs. This is why a better legal framework is essential to combating piracy, Brand adds.

Subject: Belgian news