Software piracy is a crime that costs the industry billions of dollars each year. But the harmful effects of piracy reach far beyond the software industry—consumers and honest resellers are also victims of this unfortunate trend. Using illegal software needlessly puts your business and your professional reputation at risk. At the very least it can drive up the cost of PCs, lead to software incompatibility and viruses, and leave your business without technical support. But even worse, if you use or distribute pirated software, you could be on the receiving end of heavy fines and even a jail sentence. Software piracy is clearly not a gamble any person or business can afford to take. The more revenue that is lost because of piracy, the less there is to be spent on research and development of new products for consumers.

Software piracy also has an adverse effect on the economy because by spending money on pirated software, customers are also inadvertently contributing to the loss of tax revenue and employment in their region. For example, 40 percent of application software in Canada is pirated. According to a 1997 Pricewaterhouse Coopers study, if Canada's piracy rate was reduced by 15 percent, the economic benefits in one year alone would be considerable:

• 22,171 more jobs
• $2.52 billion (CDN) more in sales
• $672.42 million (CDN) more in tax revenues

According to the Business Software Alliance, in 1998 software piracy cost the US:

• 109,000 jobs
• $4.5 billion in wages;
• $991 million in tax revenues.

What is Corel doing about Piracy?

Internet Piracy
Counterfeiting
End User Piracy
Hard Disk Loading
Gray Market Piracy
OEM
Academic
NFR