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Software piracy: UK schools a soft target

Bigger fish to fry worldwide

Software piracy in schools may be preoccupying Microsoft in the UK at the moment, but maybe the software behemoth would be better turning its attentions to India and China.

Apropos of our stories about M$ efforts to crack down on UK schools pirating software, comes news from Reg reader Vidya Dwarakanath in Bangalore.

"Back in India," writes Vidya, "it's a well known public secret. No one wants to admit it, since we are supposed to be the next generation software super power."

Figures from NASSCOM, India's leading software piracy outfit, claim that about 70 per cent of software in use in India is pirated, in corporates and government organisations. The figures exclude home and education use, but that's hardly likely to be lower than reputable organisations, is it? Estimates for illegal software in these areas run as high as 96 per cent.

Vidya adds: "In India, estimates show that you'd find only one licensed copy of a piece of software in every 200 schools, while in China, it's more like one legal copy for every 2000." ®

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