Unlicensed software use in Armenia in 2013 was estimated at 86 percent

YEREVAN, June 30. / ARKA /. Unlicensed software use in Armenia in 2013 was estimated to be 86%, down 2% over the past two years, according to the findings of a study by BSA Global Software Survey.

Compared with 2007, when the first survey was conducted in Armenia, the piracy rate declined by 7 percent. 

“Most people don’t know what is installed on their systems. That needs to change,” said BSA President & CEO Victoria Espinel. “There are common-sense steps managers and administrators can take to make sure their organizations are using genuine, properly licensed software.”

The BSA Global Software Survey is conducted every other year for BSA by IDC, which this year polled computer users in 34 markets including nearly 22,000 consumer and business PC users and more than 2,000 IT managers. 

According to the study, the total commercial value of unlicensed software in Armenia is $26 million, up from $8 million in 2007.

According to the study, the global rate at which PC software was installed without proper licensing rose from 42 percent in 2011 to 43 percent in 2013 as emerging economies where unlicensed software use is most prevalent continued to account for a growing majority of all PCs in service. 

The commercial value of unlicensed PC software installations totaled $62.7 billion globally in 2013. The region with the highest overall rate of unlicensed PC software installations in 2013 was Asia-Pacific, at 62 percent. This represented a 2 percentage-point increase from 2011, with the commercial value of unlicensed installations reaching $21 billion. 

Central and Eastern Europe had the next-highest rate of unlicensed software installations at 61 percent, followed by Latin America at 59 percent and the Middle East and Africa, also at 59 percent. 

North America continues to have the lowest regional rate of unlicensed software installations at 19 percent, although this constitutes a significant commercial value of nearly $10.9 billion. 

In Western Europe, the rate dropped three points to 29 percent in 2013 with a commercial value of $12.8 billion. 

In the European Union, the rate dropped two points to 31 percent in 2013, with a commercial value of $13.5 billion. -0-