Piracy Spreading Across Film, Music and Software Industries (NAPSA)—If you’ve been to the movie theatres lately, you’ve probably run across ads during the previews that discuss pirated films and how thisillegal activity impacts the little guy in the film industry, such as the set designer. The ads point out that the big movie producers and high paid actors aren’t necessarily the ones most impacted bypiracy. The sameis true for the software industry. While large software companies are holding their own despite the difficult economy of recent years, it is really the small software developer and engineer who are most impacted. However, because they don’t have the financial or staffing resources to fight this growing problem,it is the larger software companies who have put their face on the problem and have expended vast resources to combat software piracy. Manyhave joined the Business Software Alliance (BSA) to educate computer users on software copyrights, advocate public policy that fosters innovation and expands trade opportunities, and fight software piracy. One of BSA’s founding members, Autodesk, Inec., has more than 2,800 small third-party developers that have created thousands of solutions that work on top of Autodesk’s computer-aided design software. It is their livelihood and product innovation thatis at risk. According to Sandy Boulton, director of Autodesk’s Piracy Prevention Department, “Without the protection of intellectual property, there will be less innovation in the software industry to deliver solutions for companies and consumers. In smaller markets, soft- ware piracy could eliminate the creation of design solutions alto- ny & . re Softwa e Se : (isssiness\ Fo a] i IZ} | 7 RIN __\ WG MOVIES= ,/ “outoF == “2 | Ty Small software developers cannot afford piracy. gether, thus lowering the productivity and competitive advantages of our customers andtheir ability to bring products to market that weall can enjoy.” Addressing High Piracy Rates The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that the U.S. motion picture industry loses in excess of $3 billion annually in potential worldwide revenue due to piracy, while the Recording Industry Association of America estimates its losses at $4.2 billion annually. The greatest loss of all resides with the software industry. The worldwide software piracy rate is 39 percent, reflecting a revenueloss to U.S. business software developers of more than $13 billion. This translates into lost jobs, tax revenue, and product innovation. Tougher legislation is part of the answer. Extensive education is the other. The public needs to understand that it is equally wrong to steal someone else’s property when it comes in the form of a film, song, or software application as it is to steal physical goods. To find out where legal trade ends and software piracy begins, visit www.autodesk.com/piracy or call Autodesk’s Piracy Prevention Hotline at 1-800-NO COPIES.
