Despite global efforts to raise awareness of intellectual property rights, and the pitfalls of using computer software illegally, South Africa"s piracy rate stands at 37 percent, with that of African countries topping 90 percent.

That was the key message from the local arm of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which released the results of the IDC"s Global Software Piracy Study Wednesday.

The report, which covers 87 countries, points to a global software piracy average of 35 percent - down by one per cent on last year"s figures, but still showing that over a third of the world"s software is used illegally.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) the rate stands at 39 percent, down by two percentage points from last year. However, illegal software still costs software companies and countries" economies more than US$15.5 billion in EMEA, and almost $33 billion worldwide.

In local terms, the results are something of a mixed bag. SA"s 37 percent is up by one per cent from last year, but still close to the global average. The country has an established technology market and a sophisticated infrastructure - something the IDC believes is leading the local IT community to recognize the value of legitimate software in comparison to the rest of Africa.

However, the rest of the continent has an average piracy rate of 80 percent. Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria and Tunisia all rank in the mid-to-high 80s, and Zimbabwe posts the highest figure, 90 percent. The IDC says that Africa"s economy is suffering to the tune of more than $1 billion as a result.

"Piracy remains a major obstacle in realizing the potential of the information economy here and abroad. It is seen as a quick fix, an easy way to benefit from technology without investing too much. People rarely think of the ethical or economic consequences of pirating software," says Stephan le Roux, chairman of the BSA.

"We need to look at the IDC statistics in context though. The global software piracy average decreased by one per cent despite a massive increase in the number of PC users; an influx of new users from high-piracy market sectors [consumer and small business]; and the increasing availability of unlicensed software at online peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing sites," says Neil Dundas, a legal advisor to the BSA, and a director at Bowman Gilfillan attorneys in Johannesburg.

"Unfortunately, the value of pirated software increased. Last year, the world spent over $59 billion on PC software, but installed more than $90 billion. For every two dollars worth of software purchased legitimately, one was obtained illegally."

The BSA works with multiple government arms to raise local awareness around the issue of piracy. The department of trade and industry (dti) is one such arm. Lana van Zyl is the director in charge of company and intellectual property investigations at the dti.

While heavily involved in raids and seizures of counterfeit goods, such as foodstuffs, clothing and audio-visual technology, Van Zyl is also vocal on issues of software piracy.

"Counterfeiting is a major problem for the manufacturers and distributors of well-known merchandise. It creates real dangers for the individual purchaser, manufacturer, distributor and the national economy," she says.

"If a customer buys counterfeit goods, the brand owner or importer loses more than just sales. This costs local business and industry millions of Rands, and adversely affects our economy. Our core message? Piracy is illegal, and the counterfeiting of goods is prohibited and an offense."