Aye, aye captain: Singapore among most law-abiding in terms of piracy

But not on smartphones.

The BSA Global Software Survey released by the International Data Corporation this week revealed that Singapore has one of the lowest piracy rates at 32%, compared to the Asian regional average of 62%.

The survey does not include software loaded onto smartphones, however, and the widespread use of mobile devices in Singapore may be explaining a different trend.

From 37% in 2007, Singapore’s unlicensed software installation on computers has decreased to 32% in 2013, following declining trends in most countries surveyed in Asia. Japan has the lowest rate at 19%, to which Singapore follows a not-so-far second. Bangladesh has the highest rate at 87% followed by Pakistan at 85% and Indonesia at 84%.

To top it off, Singapore’s rate is lower than all countries surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America combined.

Here’s more:

Moving to a world in which enterprises of all types and sizes use properly licensed software requires an understanding of the real benefits that good software asset management delivers, and the real security and other risks that organizations face if they do not practice good governance with respect to software. Governments, accounting and auditing professionals, industry consultants, and non-profits, including trade associations and business organizations should educate organizations about software license compliance and the dangers of unlicensed software usage and installation.