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Magnus · 16th July 2008, 09:44

I thought an article in Business 24-7 about software piracy in the Middle East was interesting.

The article says, "The UAE leads the region in anti-piracy practices – yet industry estimates show that 35 per cent of software sold in the UAE is counterfeit. International estimates are higher at 38 per cent. Losses arising from the problem rose to $94 million (Dh345m) in the UAE in 2007 – a 52 per cent increase on the previous year's figure of $62m, according to the annual survey conducted jointly by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and global market research firm IDC."

We've heard these kinds of numbers before, and it's of course it's BSA's job to come up with numbers that show how bad it is. I'm not saying they're making up numbers, but it's certainly in their interest to make it sound as grim as possible, don't you think. The article continues, "Software piracy in the Middle East and Africa region cost $2.45 billion in 2007 – a 24 per cent increase from 2006 levels. Gulf countries lost $400m in 2007, 3.09 per cent up from the 2006 figure of from $388m."

Further on in the article they speak to Ahmad Al Jasim, regional manager of Autodesk Middle East, says, "Software piracy is the easiest type of piracy because software is not tangible."

Then the AutoDesk guy says, "Piracy is a major threat as we are losing Dh50m a year – the piracy rate for our products is 20 per cent higher than the UAE average because we have more expensive software."

Wouldn't a part solution be to lower the price of the software then?

It's unfortunate that in the article the only software-maker/seller they let speak is the AutoDesk guy. It'd be interesting to hear the view of some others too, I would think.

16th July 2008, 09:44	#1 (permalink)
Magnus Administrator Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Dubai Posts: 8,402	UAE Software Piracy Market I thought an article in Business 24-7 about software piracy in the Middle East was interesting. The article says, "The UAE leads the region in anti-piracy practices – yet industry estimates show that 35 per cent of software sold in the UAE is counterfeit. International estimates are higher at 38 per cent. Losses arising from the problem rose to $94 million (Dh345m) in the UAE in 2007 – a 52 per cent increase on the previous year's figure of $62m, according to the annual survey conducted jointly by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and global market research firm IDC." We've heard these kinds of numbers before, and it's of course it's BSA's job to come up with numbers that show how bad it is. I'm not saying they're making up numbers, but it's certainly in their interest to make it sound as grim as possible, don't you think. The article continues, "Software piracy in the Middle East and Africa region cost $2.45 billion in 2007 – a 24 per cent increase from 2006 levels. Gulf countries lost $400m in 2007, 3.09 per cent up from the 2006 figure of from $388m." Further on in the article they speak to Ahmad Al Jasim, regional manager of Autodesk Middle East, says, "Software piracy is the easiest type of piracy because software is not tangible." Then the AutoDesk guy says, "Piracy is a major threat as we are losing Dh50m a year – the piracy rate for our products is 20 per cent higher than the UAE average because we have more expensive software." Wouldn't a part solution be to lower the price of the software then? It's unfortunate that in the article the only software-maker/seller they let speak is the AutoDesk guy. It'd be interesting to hear the view of some others too, I would think.