The USTR is slated to finalise its annual "Special 301" review of unfair international trade practices.

The SIIA has estimated that more than 90 per cent of all business software used in Bulgaria, China, Indonesia, Russia and Vietnam is pirated. In the other 19 countries recommended for watching, SIIA estimated that well over half the business software in use during 1998 was pirated. As a result, US software, publishers lost $2.7 billion in wholesale revenues to business software piracy in 1998, while piracy of software for education, reference and entertainment is estimated to have cost hundreds of millions ofdollars more.

While the 1998 losses declined slightly from the 1997 estimates, SIIA attributes this to the economic downturn in Asia and other world regions that has discouraged purchases of computer hardware and software. This conclusion is supported by SIIA's ongoing monitoring of software piracy which shows the rate of software piracy has remained unchanged in many of the countries that the association wishes to see placed on the USTR Special 301 review.

Peter Beruk, vice-president for anti-piracy programs at SIIA, said: "In presenting our recommendations to the US Trade Representative, we urge governments everywhere -- and particularly in these nations -- to double and redouble their efforts to protecting copyrighted software from theft. This will require a renewed commitment on the part of every government to strong enforcement and vigilance. One way this can be achieved is for each government to meet the Year 2000 deadline for complying with the obligations outlined under the World TreatyOrganisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS."

The SIIA vice-president for government affairs, Dan Duncan, in his statement said: "Governments also need to ensure that computer software distributed on the internet is as equally protected as that distributed through other distribution channels. This can be achieved by promptly -- and fully -- bringing the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty into force."

He said, "software piracy at any level, anywhere, anyhow, is unacceptable. We are committed to working with the USTR in sending the strongest possible signal to all nations who treat this problem cavalierly that their time for procrastination on enforcement is fast running out."