Some 38 percent of business software applications loaded onto personal computers worldwide was illegally copied and distributed in 1998, according to the Software & Information Industry Association.

• That marks a decline from 49 percent as recently as 1994.

• The 1998 revenue loss of legitimate software makers amounted to $11 billion.

• The U.S. had a piracy rate of 25 percent in 1998 -- which amounted to a loss of $2.9 billion.

• Eastern Europe has the highest piracy rate of any region of the world -- followed by the Middle East and Latin America.

The industry group points to several factors for the recent decline in piracy -- including high-profile legal proceedings against companies using illegal software, falling prices for many software applications and educational campaigns stressing intellectual property rights.

Source: "Piracy Down But Not Out," Washington Post, November 25, 1999.