Four out of every 10 business software programs installed in the Republic is an illegal copy, costing the economy billions of euro every year, a new survey by an industry lobby group shows, writes  Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter

The rate of software piracy in the Republic remains among the worst in the European Union and has not fallen in the past two years, according to the study by the Business Software Alliance.

The global survey found that the rate of software piracy in the Republic last year remained stubbornly high at 42 per cent, the same figure recorded in 2000.

Mr Julian McMenamin, chairman of the Alliance, said the current Irish software piracy rate of 42 per cent was appalling and clearly bolder measures were needed to combat the problem.

He said the lack of improvement in the Republic's piracy rate in the past two years could be attributed to the proliferation of the internet as an alternative channel for copying and a certain apathy among businesses here.

"Although the current business environment is difficult, companies must appreciate the value of software," he added.

Despite experiencing the highest fall in software piracy - of some 32 percentage points - in Europe between 1994 and 2000, the Republic's piracy rate remains among the worst in Europe.

It is now ranked above most EU states with the exception of: Greece (63 per cent); France (43 per cent); Spain (47 per cent); and Italy (47 per cent).

The findings are embarrassing considering that the Republic acts as the European hub for so many of the Business Software Alliance's members including Microsoft, Apple and Symantec.

Recent research on the economic impact of software piracy by the research group IDC found the Irish economy would generate an additional 570 million benefit from 2,400 high wage jobs and 236 million in tax revenues by 2006, if software piracy was reduced by just 10 percentage points over the next four years.

The Europe-wide survey by the Alliance found Denmark has the lowest level of software piracy at 24 per cent while the UK has a piracy rate of just 26 per cent.

In western Europe, the piracy rate declined to 35 per cent in 2002 down from 52 per cent in 1994, the year when the international study was first conducted.

Meanwhile, the global piracy rate declined to 39 per cent in 2002, down from an all-time high of 49 per cent in 1994.

The survey found the worst regions for software piracy are Latin America and Asia, both of which score piracy rates of 55 per cent.

North America has the lowest piracy rate of any region. In 2002 it was 24 per cent, down from 32 per cent in 1994.

At 23 per cent, the US has the lowest piracy rate of any state.