Which software do you use?

When it comes to Corporate and Business deals/operations, most of us would agree that a licensed software is a must.
It not only affects the performance and lowering the downtime, but also boosts confidence while dealing with overseas clients and meeting the expectations.Especially the Marketing personel has to face the Music if any doubts raising the authentic software and the permissions are concerned. After all marketing ( online or offline) shows you how responsible businessmen and further citizen you can be.

Rediff News has some more info:
Illegal and unlicensed software installations continue to be a problem and source of revenue loss for software companies worldwide.

In fact, 55 per cent of the executives interviewed estimated their firms' losses at greater than 10 per cent of the total revenue, according to a recent survey by KPMG, the audit, tax and advisory firm.

The picture is grim in India too, with 50 per cent of the software in use being pirated.

Overall, 87 per cent of the executives claimed a revenue loss due to unlicensed use.

What's more, 77 per cent of those surveyed agreed with the International Data Corporation estimate that 35 per cent of the installed software is unlicensed, leading to an estimated $34 billion in lost revenue to the industry.

The solution to S/W Piracy and pirated software is the "Cost" which most of the individuals cant afford in Non-Advanced countries. Software companies want to take out the revenues spent in development and earn profit, thats obvious; but the customer focus is lacking here.If the price-value relationship is re-considered to the requirements of small business owners, its a definite possibility that the menace can be eliminated/reduced to a larger extent.
Yes we are also forgetting about Copyrights and IPR ( Intellectual Property Rights) here!