Action global communications: Illegal software harms local and global economies
5/12/2011 10:38
Microsoft’s global Play Fair Day spotlights the $1.5 billion disadvantage pirated software causes in local economies.
Manufacturing companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China that choose to use illegal software steal more than $1.5 billion from their in-market competitors that choose to play fair by using genuine software.
Microsoft today released the findings of the first-ever study that examines the financial impact using illegal software has on the competitive landscape within developing economies. In support of the inaugural “Play Fair Day”,which is a global initiative to emphasize the importance of utilizing legitimate software, this commissioned study quantifiably proves the harm software piracy has on businesses that choose to play fair.
“We constantly strive to promote genuine software to consumers in order to give them the most value out of their software purchases. Nevertheless, some resellers in the marketcontinue to undermine our practice by promoting pirated software, causing unfair competition and making it really challenging for us and many other companies to run our business”, said Mr. Marios Todheris fromStephanis Chain of Stores.
“We are among the companies who promote genuine software to end users and professionals and we face the unfair competition from competitors who just work with pirated software. We believe that consumers have the right to know that by using pirated software, they expose themselves to the unsecure digital world and can become victims of unauthorised intrusion from others that want to harm them and may lose valuable information. Companies that promote pirated software just want more profits and this is not fair for the consumers either”, Mr.Iacovos Savvides, Bionic Electronics HT Ltd.
As part of this study to examine the broader economic impacts of software piracy, analysts from Keystone Strategy evaluated the illegitimate competitive advantage of companies that use illegal software. In China, manufacturers that “play fair” with legal, licensed software lose more than $837 million to companies using pirated software. This translates to more than $1 billion each year that cannot be reinvested into the economy in the form of 500 new manufacturing plants; or 65,000 new machines; or 200,000 additional employees in China alone.
“The fact that reducing piracy will generate more jobs in our market and encourage innovation should be reason enough to play fair; not to mention the other dangers consumers and businesses face with pirated software,” said Evie Demetriou,Anti-Piracy Manager at Microsoft Cyprus.“Genuine software provides the most value to each user, and resellers that play fair regardless of the hard competition should be praised for promoting the best options to their customers.” She also added that “Microsoft is committed to protecting consumers and businesses from the effects of counterfeit software. Microsoft Cyprus is running Mystery Shopper campaigns to software resellers and works closely with the Cyprus police to determine which product keys discovered during raids to business premises are genuine or counterfeit.”
According to Microsoft’s research, unfairness from piracy creates a staggering $3 billion of competitive disadvantage per year across manufacturers in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. In specific countries, Microsoft was able to determine exactly how much pirated software costs competing manufacturers in Brazil ($186 million), Russia ($115 million), India ($505 million) and China ($837 million).
Microsoft released these findings as part of Play Fair Day, which aims to educate businesses, consumers and governments to play by the rules, learn about the benefits of using legal software and build respect for intellectual property. Microsoft is holding activities in more than 50 countries around the world in order to educate businesses, governments and consumers that the decision to utilize fake software is one that is not only dangerous to personal information, but dangerous to the economic landscape as well.
Playing fair begins when people and businesses take a stand and demand legal software. More information about the financial impacts of using illegal software can be found by visiting http://www.playfairday.com.More information on software piracy and its effects can also be found on the official Microsoft antipiracy Twitter account, @MSFT_BuyLegit.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Manufacturing companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China that choose to use illegal software steal more than $1.5 billion from their in-market competitors that choose to play fair by using genuine software.
Microsoft today released the findings of the first-ever study that examines the financial impact using illegal software has on the competitive landscape within developing economies. In support of the inaugural “Play Fair Day”,which is a global initiative to emphasize the importance of utilizing legitimate software, this commissioned study quantifiably proves the harm software piracy has on businesses that choose to play fair.
“We constantly strive to promote genuine software to consumers in order to give them the most value out of their software purchases. Nevertheless, some resellers in the marketcontinue to undermine our practice by promoting pirated software, causing unfair competition and making it really challenging for us and many other companies to run our business”, said Mr. Marios Todheris fromStephanis Chain of Stores.
“We are among the companies who promote genuine software to end users and professionals and we face the unfair competition from competitors who just work with pirated software. We believe that consumers have the right to know that by using pirated software, they expose themselves to the unsecure digital world and can become victims of unauthorised intrusion from others that want to harm them and may lose valuable information. Companies that promote pirated software just want more profits and this is not fair for the consumers either”, Mr.Iacovos Savvides, Bionic Electronics HT Ltd.
As part of this study to examine the broader economic impacts of software piracy, analysts from Keystone Strategy evaluated the illegitimate competitive advantage of companies that use illegal software. In China, manufacturers that “play fair” with legal, licensed software lose more than $837 million to companies using pirated software. This translates to more than $1 billion each year that cannot be reinvested into the economy in the form of 500 new manufacturing plants; or 65,000 new machines; or 200,000 additional employees in China alone.
“The fact that reducing piracy will generate more jobs in our market and encourage innovation should be reason enough to play fair; not to mention the other dangers consumers and businesses face with pirated software,” said Evie Demetriou,Anti-Piracy Manager at Microsoft Cyprus.“Genuine software provides the most value to each user, and resellers that play fair regardless of the hard competition should be praised for promoting the best options to their customers.” She also added that “Microsoft is committed to protecting consumers and businesses from the effects of counterfeit software. Microsoft Cyprus is running Mystery Shopper campaigns to software resellers and works closely with the Cyprus police to determine which product keys discovered during raids to business premises are genuine or counterfeit.”
According to Microsoft’s research, unfairness from piracy creates a staggering $3 billion of competitive disadvantage per year across manufacturers in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. In specific countries, Microsoft was able to determine exactly how much pirated software costs competing manufacturers in Brazil ($186 million), Russia ($115 million), India ($505 million) and China ($837 million).
Microsoft released these findings as part of Play Fair Day, which aims to educate businesses, consumers and governments to play by the rules, learn about the benefits of using legal software and build respect for intellectual property. Microsoft is holding activities in more than 50 countries around the world in order to educate businesses, governments and consumers that the decision to utilize fake software is one that is not only dangerous to personal information, but dangerous to the economic landscape as well.
Playing fair begins when people and businesses take a stand and demand legal software. More information about the financial impacts of using illegal software can be found by visiting http://www.playfairday.com.More information on software piracy and its effects can also be found on the official Microsoft antipiracy Twitter account, @MSFT_BuyLegit.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
3287.99
1275.09
