Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Alliance against Software Theft has announced a 3% drop in software theft in Canada, but the figures show that software theft has cost Canada $457 million in sales of business applications and software in 2000.
The cost of software theft is high: losses of jobs, wages and tax revenue in Canada.
We will inevitably have to become aware of the importance of adopting copyright protection policies.
We must encourage businesses to continue, through educational programs, legislative measures and enforcement, to raise the awareness of members of the public who use unauthorized copies of software.