Software piracy worldwide costing industry $40 billion

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thirty-five percent of software installed on personal computers worldwide in 2006 was obtained illegally, amounting to nearly $40 billion in global losses due to software piracy, according to a new study.

Progress was seen in a number of emerging markets, most notably in China, where the piracy rate dropped 10 percent in three years, and in Russia, where piracy fell 7 percent during a three-year period, according.

These are among the findings of the global PC software piracy study released by the Business Software Alliance, or BSA, an international association representing the commercial software industry. The study was conducted…