For the first time in three years the amount of pirated business software on UK computers has decreased.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) annual survey showed a 1 percent drop in UK piracy to 26 percent. The BSA reckons the fall in piracy is down to the increase of educational efforts and programs that tackle local piracy hotspots. The fall comes against a decline in software piracy in a majority of the 108 nations surveyed for the report.

 Julie Strawson, Chairwoman of the BSA Committee said, “It’s encouraging that we’re making progress in the battle against software piracy, however there’s a huge amount yet to be done,

“The fact remains that an unacceptable level of UK organisations still flout software licensing regulations,”

In 2007 the BSA targeted Glasgow in a large scale regional initiative because of its “specific piracy problems” which in all eventualities’ means the Glasgow Barrowland’s Saturday Market - where you used to be able to get anything you want. Next on the list is Manchester, said the BSA.

The BSA is funded by software firms including SAP, Microsoft, IBM, Adobe, Apple and Symantec and works to remind companies about copyright laws and to enforce software licensing terms.

Despite the fall in UK piracy rates and 66 other nations in the report, the global piracy rate grew during 2007.

The average piracy rate in the world stands at 38 percent - up three points on 206. The BSA said this was because sales of PCs grew fastest in countries where piracy is rampant.

Armenia now tops the rankings of nations with the most pirated software. The BSA estimates that 93 percent of software used in the country is pirated. Remarkebly, the US has the lowest rate at 20 percent.

BSA’s five-point “blueprint” for reducing software piracy and reaping the economic benefits includes:

1. Increasing public education and awareness of the value of intellectual property and the risks of    using unlicensed software;

2. Updating national copyright laws to implement World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) obligations in order to enable better and more effective enforcement against digital and online piracy;

3. Creating strong enforcement mechanisms as required by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), including tough anti-piracy laws;

4. Dedicating significant government resources to the problem, including national IP enforcement units, cross-border cooperation, and training for local officers and judiciary officials; and

5. Leading by example by implementing software management policies and requiring the public sector to use only legitimate software.