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By Will Sturgeon, 26 September 2003 17:04

NEWS Computer users are being urged to consider their part in the global problem of software piracy which is often a link in a chain that includes many forms of organised crime such as drug smuggling and slavery. According to the Business Software Alliance the high margins involved in software piracy are even greater than with drugs and so the practice is often used as a profitable way of laundering money from other more serious crimes. Users may think they are getting a bargain on an item of software but if they stopped to think about the ramifications of that purchase it might make them reconsider. At least that is what the BSA is hoping. Mark Floisand, UK chair of the BSA and marketing director at Adobe, said: "This is not just illegal - it also has major social and economic implications as well." The combined damage to the economy is also a major issue which the BSA believes consumers need to be aware of. Currently around 26 per cent of all business software is pirated or being used in breach of licence. The BSA believes if it can get that figure down to 15 per cent then that drop would be the equivalent of creating 40,000 new jobs for the software industry. Floisand claims it is only the constant fight against piracy which means companies are having to keep teams smaller and cut back on R&D budgets. While the retail sector is quite open about the fact that losses through shoplifting are passed on to consumers, Floisand denied any allowance is made for the cost of piracy in the cost of licences. He claimed software companies - and ultimately their staff - bear the brunt of the losses. Speaking at a BSA briefing in London, a spokesman for the patent office added that his concerns centre on the fact that the public may not start counting the cost of software piracy until it is too late. Counterfeit software is often not up to scratch and the ramifications of that could be considerable, he warned. He said: "It sometimes takes a catastrophe to make people sit up and take notice. Sadly I don't think it will be long before a piece of counterfeit software gets into a hospital and brings the whole system down. "Consumers have to realise that every time they buy a piece of counterfeit software they are contributing to the chances of that catastrophe happening."