Software Piracy Hurts E-Business Potential In Asia

The e-business market in Asia is set for
substantial growth but is being threatened by a significant amount of
regional software piracy, according to representatives of Attachmate.

Attachmate partnered with the Business Software Alliance on Thursday
(BSA) to combat intellectual property theft.

“E-business is the main driver of growth for most new applications,” said
Sammy Lee, Attachmate’s general manager for Greater China.

“Particularly in Greater China, we see a huge market for localised
e-business solutions,” added Lee, “Unfortunately, the high software piracy
rate here is discouraging many innovative developers and causing huge
losses for the industry.”

Hong Kong and China are consistently at the top of BSA’s list of
copyright violating countries and contribute significantly to the
annual industry losses of over US$11 billion.

Lee stated that Attachmates partnership with the BSA would enable the
company to participate in the industry’s heightened efforts to curtail
software piracy.

“Attachmate’s commitment to become part of the BSA’s global campaign will
further strengthen our ability to stem the tide of continuing software
theft,” said Robert Holleyman, BSA’s president and CEO.

“Piracy is a serious issue facing software companies worldwide with a
presence in more than 30 countries, Attachmate is no exception,” said
William Boisvert, president of Attachmate.

Boisvert went on to say that software piracy affects more than just the
software industry.

“Unauthorized distribution or copying of software has ramifications for the
industry’s paying customers and, ultimately, economies around the world,”
Boisvert added. “Our BSA membership demonstrates our commitment to stamp
out this menace.”