The Hindu Business Line : Piracy up at 73 pc

ECONOMIC consideration, escalating prices, high availability of pirated software in the grey market, high usage of assembled PCs, growing availability of illegal software on the Internet, cheaper duplication equipment, lack of stringent enforcement of laws and lack of awareness of IPR laws by users are some of the problems that the software industry faces.

Col. B.F. Chaudhari, who heads the anti-piracy cell of Pune-based Modular Infotech, told presspersons that the company had taken certain initiatives to combat software piracy. It had carried out more than 250 raids all over the country, including Hyderabad, Pune, Sangli, Kolhapur, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Shimoga in the last few years.

Col Chaudhari said more than 80 persons had been arrested and the cases were pending trial in various courts. Unfortunately, many cases filed four or five years ago have not yet come up for hearing.

The piracy percentage this year has risen to 73 per cent from 64 per cent in 2003-2004. This resulted in a business loss of Rs 54,750 crore and a loss of Rs 2,190 crore in the form of sales tax to the exchequer.

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Piracy up at 73 pc