Benefits of software piracy cuts revealed

Reducing UK software piracy by just 10% would generate 34,000 jobs, £11bn in economic growth and £2.8bn in tax revenue, new research claims.

The findings come from a report commissioned by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) which also found that a 10% drop in illegal software worldwide would lead to 2.4 million new jobs, £230bn in extra growth and an additional £34.5bn in tax proceeds.

BSA said although the UK IT sector - made up of 64,296 businesses - is currently valued at £39.8bn, many more economics benefits could be created if software piracy was reduced.

The industry is predicted to grow 30% by 2009 but a 10% reduction in the UK's 27% software piracy rate, the report claimed, would drive growth to 37% valuing
the sector at £54.5bn and creating 33,874 new jobs.

The extra £2.8bn in tax revenues which would also be generated equates to employing 80,000 police officers, 113,000 nurses or the cost of staging the London 2012 Olympics, almost twice over.

Commenting on the figures, Janet Anderson MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Intellect Property Protection, said: "The software industry has a key role to play in the UK economy and acts as a catalyst for productivity and growth.

"Piracy stifles innovation and creativity and clearly has a significant impact on employment, economic growth and public spending."

During his Pre-Budget announcement earlier this week, chancellor Gordon Brown said the UK's Intellectual Property Framework would be reviewed as part of Labour's manifesto commitment to ‘modernise copyright and other forms of intellectual property do that they are appropriate for the digital age.’