1% rise in licenced software use can add $1.3 billion to GDP: Study

MUMBAI: A mere 1% increase in licenced software usage can generate almost $1.3 billion in economic output compared to $554 million from a similar increase in pirated software intake, reveals a study on use of licensed software.

"While 1% increase in use of licensed software would generate almost $1.3 billion in national production, a similar increase in pirated software consumption would generate $554 million, meaning properly licenced software would deliver $739 million in additional economic value.

"Therefore, it is clear that increasing use of properly licenced software can have a greater impact on the domestic economy than allowing similar growth in the use of pirated software," report said.

The study titled 'Competitive advantage: The economic impact of properly licensed software' analyses data from as many as 95 countries to demonstrate the benefits to their national economies by using fully-licenced software.

"The study confirms that increasing use of licenced software corresponds to substantial positive gains in GDP, and that the economic stimulus effect of properly licensed software is significantly greater than that of pirated software," BSA India director Yolynd Lobo said.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a lobby group representing software product companies, estimates that software makers lost nearly $3 billion or about 16,150 crore in 2011 in India as Indians prefer to illegally copy software rather than pay for it.

Comparable loss in the US was about $9.7 billion and $9 billion in China. In 2011, the piracy percentage in the country stood at 63%.

The study also finds that each additional dollar invested in properly licensed software has an estimated return on investment of $75 against $19 in case of pirated software.