Piracy = IT Terrorist?

From Sim Lim to Heartland Malls to Shop houses, its a scene which I've not came across for a really long long time. Are they still around? With many online forum, P2P & bittorrent site for your daily hunger, why would one still risk to visit them?

According to Business Software Alliance, which has a base in Singapore, software piracy cost technology companies more than US$50 billion (S$68.9 billion) around the world last year, with Asia-Pacific region accounting for the largest share of losses at US$16.5 billion.

Despite some successes in the fight to protect intellectual property rights, 43% of software used in computers worldwide in 2009 was pirated, compared to 41% the year before. The deluge of counterfeits was largely due to the growth of the personal computer market in Brazil, India and China.

Bangladesh was the Asian country with the highest software piracy rate, followed by Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam, with China and India also among the most prominent culprits. Ex-Soviet state Georgia was the world’s top software pirate, with 95% of all software used in the country deemed illegal. It was followed by Zimbabwe, with 92%, Bangladesh with 91% and Moldova with 91%.