"The creative and the IT industries suffer from piracy that is far from being the business of the companies affected. If we only consider business software, due to the 42 percent piracy rate of business software installed on computers, companies in the industry suffered loss of profits amounting to USD 125 million (approximately HUF 25 billion) in 2007. At the same time, the state also lost duties and taxes equalling several billion HUF due to such loss in profits. If, as a result of a cooperation between the government and the business sphere, the proposed 10 percent improvement was realised, that is, the extent of the illegal use of business software was reduced to 32 percent, approximately 1,100 well-paying jobs would be created in Hungary, according to the calculations of the market research company IDC. The industry could contribute an additional sum of USD 274 million, that is, approximately HUF 55 billion to the performance of the Hungarian economy and would help the country generate HUF 13 billion in taxes and duties." - said Gábor Sarlós, spokesperson of the BSA.

We are convinced that the two programmes intended to increase social awareness, announced by HENT on December 8 makes efforts to achieve the above goals in an informative manner both in respect of business and private users. The BSA and its members continue to make efforts also in the future in order to protect intellectual property rights, increase awareness of the importance of copyright and, in general, reduce the use of illegal software.

The BSA trusts that a growing number of company managers realise that it is not worth to use illegal software as this will unnecessarily render the company and the manager him/herself exposed to significant risks. "We are convinced that, under the fast-changing conditions of today's world, security becomes an ever-important value, which cannot be created via software that is illegally downloaded or copied from own computers." - said Gábor Sarlós.

About BSA

The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the foremost organisation dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world. BSA programmes foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce. BSA members include: Adobe, Altium, Apple, Attachmate, Autodesk, Avid, Babylon, Bentley Systems, CNC, Corel, CyberLink, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, Famatech, FrontRange Solutions, LINKService, Mamut, Materialise Software, Microsoft, Mindjet, Monotype Imaging, O&O Software, Quark, Quest Software, Ringler-Informatik, Scalable Software, Siemens, Staff & Line, Symantec, Tekla, and The MathWorks.