BY CHRONICLE STAFF
Venezuela has Latin America's highest software piracy rate, followed by Bolivia and Paraguay, according to a new report from the Business Software Alliance and market research firm IDC. Venezuela's rate of 87 percent piracy ranks ninth worldwide, ahead of such countries as Vietnam and war-torn Iraq. Venezuela is also the only country in Latin America that registered increased piracy rates last year. A majority of the countries – 11 – posted a decline, while the remaining six saw no change, according to a Latin Business Chronicle analysis of the BSA and IDC data.
Venezuela’s rate contrasts with neighboring Colombia, where pirated software now accounts for 58 percent of PC’s – the lowest in Latin America.
Measured by the losses caused by software piracy, Brazil is the worst offender in Latin America. Piracy in the South American country caused the software industry to lose a whopping $1.6 billion last year. That was the tenth-highest loss worldwide.
Mexico and Venezuela followed, with $836 million and $464 million, respectively. Although Venezuela came in third in overall losses, its figure is...
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Keywords: Argentina, Brazil, Central America, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico.
