2008 saw a 41% increase in worldwide PC software piracy and with the economic conditions deteriorating even more in 2009, I am fairly confident that we will see an even higher number by the end of this year. According to one recent study, ”the monetary value of unlicensed software - "losses" to software companies - broke the $50 billion level for the first time.” These kinds of losses are also impeding employment growth in the software industry which acts as double-whammy when it comes to long-term economic growth. In fact, a new study claimed that lowering the unlicensed usage of software by 10% over four years could conceivably create six hundred thousand software related jobs worldwide. Now there is a stimulus plan that I like! Another bright side to curbing the use of pirated software is that it will definitely help American businesses compete better in the world. Right now, while American businesses are subject to copyright laws, businesses elsewhere in the world can out-compete US firms because of their less financially burdensome use of illegal or unlicensed software. How can US firms create more jobs and compete in such an environment? In order to level the playing field and fuel future economic growth, we must curb the use of pirated software! In order to achieve this though, software developers need to focus on this from the get-go. We advise all our software clients to use our copy protection solutions to at least try to keep honest people honest. If this can help lower their piracy rates by even 5%-10%; it is well worth it for everyone concerned!