Welcome to our blog for Intellectual Property Law and Practice in Latin America!
¡Bienvenidos a nuestro blog de Derecho y Práctica de la Propiedad Intelectual en Latinoamérica!
Bem-vindo ao nosso blog sobre Direito e Prática de Propriedade Intelectual na América Latina!

Saturday 12 December 2009

Patricia Covarrubia

Colombia reports millions in losses from illegal software

    No comments:


The New Herald newspaper informs the statement given by Microsoft. It is reported that Colombia alone registered more than US$ 136 million in losses from illegal software in 2009.

The Microsoft’s manager for Colombia explained that "while the software piracy rate dropped two points (from 58% to 56%) the economic losses increased”. He added that this issue was not only because of the growth of the domestic market but also because of “the use of the Internet as a means of product promotion and illegal distribution". The manager also said that in Latin America, the piracy rate remained at 66% last year, with losses equivalent to US$ 4.311 million.

If you think the number are high, wait for the whole report.
The country (in Latin America) with the highest rate of counterfeiting is Venezuela, with a whooping rate of 86%. The other two are Paraguay with 83% and Bolivia with 81%. To my surprise, the lowest rate was reported to...Colombia, with 56%. Brazil reported 58%, so good news to those who are planning to develop new software to run and smooth things at the Olympic games in 2016 (I am not trying to be sarcastic).

Patricia Covarrubia

Patricia Covarrubia