The proportion of pirated software on Canadian computers is at its lowest ever, a global study has found.

Canada's piracy rate for 2010 was 28 per cent, reported the Business Software Alliance in a report released this week.

That is an "all-time low" and six percentage points lower than in 2006, Michael Murphy, chairman of the Business Software Alliance Canada Committee, said in a statement.

Canada's software piracy rate is far below the worldwide average of 42 per cent and the western European average of 33 per cent, the study found.

But Matt Reid, vice-president of communications for the alliance, isn't celebrating yet.

How the study was done The Business Software Alliance studied 116 countries in partnership with the market research firm IDC, which provided its own data, and the polling company Ipsos Public Affairs. Ipsos surveyed 15,000 people in 32 countries, including 400 in Canada. IDC estimated the number of computers across each country based on current and historical sales figures. The survey was used to estimate the average amount of software on each computer. Its value was calculated, and software sales were subtracted to determine how much was not legally purchased. The calculation included all kinds of software from operating systems to games to business tools and took into account the availability of free software. The study was "a very complex endeavour" because it was trying to measure illegal activity, which can't be measured directly, Reid said.

"The rate came down … but the problem is actually getting bigger," he said Friday, citing the increasing value of the pirated software in Canada, which is now $1.1 billion.

Canada's rate is higher than the 20 per cent rate in the United States. However, the U.S. topped the list of countries with the highest estimated commercial value of pirated software at $9.5 billion.

On May 2, the U.S. Trade Representative placed Canada on its most recent Special 301 piracy watch list.

Piracy may be largely unintentional

Results of a survey included as part of the study showed more than 80 per cent of Canadian respondents think technical support, security and reliability are better with licensed software, but they don't always know what they need to do to purchase proper licences for their software.

"In some cases, people don't recognize that what they're doing is illegal," Reid said.

Most respondents knew that borrowed software and software obtained from peer-to-peer networks and street markets were not properly licensed.

But almost two-thirds of respondents thought installing multiple copies of software at home is legal, which is not usually true. Reid said governments need to step in with a list of measures to reduce piracy.

"The first on that list is education, educating their constituents about how important IT is, what's legal, what's not." Having the "right" laws and enforcing them is also key, he added.

He credited the software industry for Canada's falling piracy rate, but said the problem doesn't seem to be a priority with the Canadian government. "That's where we think we could see more progress."