Demand surge a threat to UAE's fights against piracy

Dubai: The UAE ranks first in the Gulf in combating pirated software, but still more than a third of all programmes used here were illegally copied, according to IDC.

The market research firm's latest figures reveal that government and business initiatives have curbed the spread of software piracy, but growing consumer demand threatens to erode that progress.

The UAE's software piracy rate currently stands at 34.6 per cent. By comparison, in every other GCC country that figure ranges between 52 per cent and 64 per cent, led by Kuwait (64 per cent) and Oman (63 per cent).

"The UAE government has taken an active stance against piracy and has cooperated with the BSA (Business Software Alliance) closely - and as a result has one of the lowest piracy rates in the region," said Vinay Nair, a software analyst at IDC in Dubai.

Illegal copy

IDC calculated the standings by measuring the amount of software used in the country in comparison to the amount of software bought here.

The figures come weeks after Microsoft reached an out-of-court deal with Royal Focus, a retailer in Computer Plaza in Bur Dubai, over the sale of pirated Microsoft software.

Nair said computer vendors unfortunately have been common sources of illegal copies of software in the past.

"Usually, [pirated software] comes from computer distributors who try to add value for their customers by copying an illegal copy onto their machines," he told Gulf News.

"There are also cases where organised counterfeiting organisations create identical software packages for distribution at legitimate retailers. Of course in the consumer software side, friends or colleagues swapping software for personal use is very prevalent."

While Vinay praised the work done to stem the spread of piracy by the government and the BSA, an anti-piracy coalition, he said piracy was still threatening to spread.

"The consumer spending boom in the country has also increased the use of consumer software which typically is the most likely product to be pirated," he said.

Threats: Dangers of using counterfeit software

Using illegally copied software exposes your computer to security breaches, according to IDC.

"In the case of security software, by not subscribing for regular updates, you do put your computer and the information on it at risk," said Vinay Nai. "The types of viruses and spyware continually evolves, and the security software vendors invest a lot of resources to stay on top of the threat and make new defences available very quickly to their subscribers. If using a pirated security software, your machine will not have the latest weapons to fight the latest threats on the internet."

He added, "[Consumers] need to do the adequate due diligence to find out if the software that comes with the machines they buy from smaller computer dealers are certified copies, and that they have a unique registration number that they can register."