BSA seizes over $2.1 m worth pirated software

New Delhi: The Business Software Alliance, which is the voice of the world's IT software and hardware industry today, announced its enforcement actions taken over the last year.

A substantial number of raids were conducted in 2006 by BSA and its member companies collectively and individually, that have revealed the extent of software piracy in the country. BSA confirmed the total value of the seized software in 2006 to be at around $2.1 million. BSA and its member companies have plans to step up their enforcement actions in the year 2007 in an effort to bring down the piracy rate.

Representing BSA at the announcement, Jeffrey J Hardee, BSA Vice President and Regional Director, Asia-Pacific, said "In over 200 actions that have been conducted by BSA and its member companies in 2006, we had found wide spread use and sale of pirated software across Indian cities. With the high software piracy rate in India, it is important to highlight efforts of the industry in combating piracy through enforcement."

The BSA and its members have carried out raids in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Hyderabad in 2006.