The third annual piracy study by the Washington-based BSA and Framingham, Mass.-based IDC showed the rate of piracy rose in 19 of the nations surveyed. The study pegged the value of losses to software makers at US$34 billion -- $1.6 billion more than the losses in 2004, according to the study.

"We did see in the majority of countries that piracy went down, especially in some of the emerging countries," said Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of BSA, an industry group that represents commercial software and hardware makers around the world against piracy and copyright infringement. "We want to take the results where we're seeing progress and translate that in the countries where we're not seeing progress."

The 21-page study, which was released Tuesday, found encouraging examples of a dip in piracy rates, particularly in countries such as India, China and Russia. China saw a four-point drop, from 90 percent to 86 percent; Russia saw a four-point drop as well, from 87 percent to 83 percent. And in India, piracy rates slipped from 74 percent to 72 percent.

The global rate remained unchanged between 2004 and 2005 because developed markets such as the U.S., Western Europe, Japan and a handful of Asian countries dominate the software market -- and their combined piracy rate hardly moved, according to the study.

"I think it's less of a problem in the U.S. because there has been a very active enforcement and education program in the U.S. for many years now, and the penalties for using pirated software in an organization are very steep," Holleyman said. "Most businesses [here] realize it's just too risky to use pirated software."