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Thursday March 15 12:50 AM ET Software Cos. Lose $1.3B To Piracy

By TONY SMITH, AP Business Writer

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - More than half of the software in use across Brazil last year was pirated, costing the tech industry an estimated $1.3 billion, software producers say.

According to the Brazilian (news - web sites) Association of Software Companies, the number of illegal copies circulating in Brazil last year was equivalent to 56 percent of the potential software market. That was the same as 1999's estimate, but less than the 86 percent rate for 1991.

The estimate was based on the number of computers sold in Brazil compared to the amount of software sold through authorized outlets. The association estimates that each computer in Brazil - including corporate and home use - should be equipped with an average of $800 of software.

``Although the rate is the same as last year, we see the tendency as going down,'' Rodrigo Munhoz said. ``At the beginning of the '90s, Brazil had an 86 percent piracy rate, now it's below the Latin American average.''

The lowest piracy rate in the region is Chile's 46 percent, while Bolivia has the highest at 83 percent, Munhoz said, adding that the Latin American average is 66 percent. Mexico and Argentina have a similar rate to Brazil.

Although the piracy rate remained stable, the software industry lost more money than in 1999 because the PC market is expanding rapidly.

Brazil is trying clamp down on piracy.

For those caught making or using pirate programs, judges can impose fines of up to 3,000 times the value of the authorized software that has been copied. The latest edition of Windows costs around $150 in Brazil.

Munhoz announced Wednesday a recent police raid on a Sao Paulo computer school had seized 88 illegal programs. A parking lot company was also investigated and was now required to produce licenses for 104 suspected pirate programs.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), March 15, 2001