A new resolution or just the same old news

In different newspaper and from different countries I was reading similar information regarding the losses that the software industry suffered for piracy.

In Peru for instance, I read that more than USD $ 29 million was thought to be lost in the software industry for piracy, and this sum was only during the month of December -- this estimates were from no other than the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a global organization leading the defence of copyright. According to Piero Calderon, Proxy at BSA in Peru, “The purchase of pirated product at Christmas time has increased, since technology is a very common gift”. The information continues to reveal that the latest study made by International Data Corporation (IDC) in Peru in 2010 the software piracy reached 68%, which meant losses of USD $ 176 million -- the global average in Latin America was 64%.

I move now to another Andean country, my neighbour Colombia. Montserrat Guitart, proxy at BSA in Colombia and Argentina elaborates more in this issue saying that "The seriousness of this behaviour is that it affects all society because it encourages illegal trade, smuggling, counterfeiting and tax revenues are lost.” Then again looking at the IDC, in Colombia in 2010 software piracy reached USD $272 million representing 54% of the programs using during the said year. It is good to know that in 2010 Colombia managed to be one number down in the rate of piracy products.

Will this be news for New Year’s resolution? To respect the rights of copyright by buying legal software. Can this one be tougher than the most famous resolution of losing weight?