The Business Software Alliance (BSA) today announced that Katherine McGuire has joined the organization as Vice President of Government Relations.

In her new role, McGuire will be responsible for BSA’s US and global public policy programs, and will oversee a team of government relations professionals in Washington and Brussels. McGuire will direct BSA’s policy campaigns on issues of importance to the high tech industry including intellectual property protection, patent reform, cyber security, and trade.

McGuire joins BSA after serving seventeen years in the US Senate. For the last ten years, McGuire worked for Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) in various leadership positions, including serving as his Legislative Director, as Staff Director of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance, and as Staff Director of the Banking Subcommittee on Securities and Investment. In her most recent position, she served as the Republican Staff Director for the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), where she led countless legislative initiatives for Senator Enzi. In the 109th Congress, she served as Majority Staff Director for the HELP Committee.

“In more situations than I could ever count, Katherine showed she was a great negotiator and an even better strategist,” said Senator Enzi. “She’s the best networker I have ever seen. With every win and team effort, Katherine was always there, putting in long and extended hours, providing clear, accurate, leadership and advice, and doing everything she could to make our team vision come true,” Enzi said. “If serving as a Senate staff was an Olympic event, my staff would win the Gold Medal, and Katherine would be the MVP. She is such a good leader because she is willing to do what is necessary to ensure a successful outcome. She has an unusual amount of abilities and talents and an overdose of persistence that has helped her get things done,” according to Enzi.

“Katherine is an extraordinary leader who is widely respected in the United States Senate on both sides of the aisle,” said Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). “Her many accomplishments on a wide array of issues may bear the names of Senators, but we all know that she made them possible. She’ll be greatly missed,” Kennedy said.

During her Senate tenure, McGuire worked on numerous tech policy issues and a variety of other legislative proposals. She led the Senate Stock Option Working Group which helped craft the Stock Option Reform Act for Senator Enzi and orchestrated the strategy on the Export Administration Act and the Health Information Technology reform legislation. In addition, McGuire helped negotiate the Higher Education Act, Global/HIV/AIDS Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting reform package, the new Food and Drug Administration reform law, the Pension Protection Act, and the NAFTA and GATT implementing bills.

“Katherine McGuire has solid bipartisan relationships and is well respected for her work on substantive policy matters as well as her demonstrated legislative and managerial skills. I am pleased that we have someone with Katherine’s proven talent, deep Senate experience, and outstanding reputation to take on this critical role on behalf of BSA and its members,” said Robert Holleyman, President and CEO of BSA.

McGuire’s career in Washington began in 1990, when she spent five years as a legislative assistant and floor assistant to former Senator Alan Simpson. From 1995 to 1997, she worked on the staff of the Senate Agriculture Committee for Chairman Richard Lugar.

A native of Wyoming, McGuire holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Wyoming.

Reducing software piracy in the United States by just 10 percentage points over the next four years could generate more than 32,000 new jobs, $41 billion in economic growth, and $7 billion in tax revenues above current projections, according to a new study released today by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

While the United States has much to gain from reducing illegal software, high-piracy emerging economies like China, Russia and India could experience even more dramatic, positive impacts, the IDC study suggests.

The study, commissioned by BSA and conducted independently by International Data Corporation (IDC), notes that the information technology (IT) industry is already a major contributor to the American economy. In 2007, the United States spent nearly $458 billion on IT goods and services including computers, peripherals, network equipment, packaged software and IT services. That spending accounted for 3.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), supported more than 314,000 IT companies with 2.9 million IT industry employees, and helped generate $485 billion in IT-related taxes.

Yet the IT sector’s contribution to the US economy would be even greater if America’s 21 percent PC software piracy rate could be lowered to 11 percent by 2011, the study said. Such an improvement would add highly skilled jobs to the labor force, support the creation of new companies, lower business risks, and fund government services without a tax increase.

Moreover, reducing software piracy has a “multiplier effect.” According to IDC, for every $1 spent on legitimate packaged software, an additional $1.25 is spent on related services from local vendors such as installing the software, training personnel, and providing maintenance services.

“When countries take steps to reduce software piracy, everyone benefits,” said Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of BSA. “With more and better job opportunities, a stronger, more secure business environment, and greater economic contributions from the already robust IT sector, reducing software piracy would deliver tangible benefits for governments and local economies.”

Positive Impact Greater in Countries with High Piracy Losses, Such as China and Russia

The study also reveals some surprising changes in the global IT landscape that could result from piracy reductions in emerging economies.

For example, a 10 percent reduction in China’s 82 percent PC software piracy rate could make that nation’s IT workforce the largest in the world within four years, surpassing the number of IT workers in the United States. The number of IT jobs in China would grow by an additional 355,000 beyond those already projected, bringing the total number of IT jobs in China to almost 3.5 million by 2011. The improvement could increase IT spending growth from 10.3 percent a year to 13.7 percent between 2008 and 2011.

Likewise, a 10 percent cut in Russia’s 80 percent PC software piracy rate could help make the Russian IT sector larger than India’s within four years, putting it among the top three fastest-growing IT markets in the world. By 2011, with reduced software piracy, Russia’s IT sector would be a $33.9 billion industry, compared to $32.2 billion in India without a cut in piracy and $33.7 billion with a cut in piracy. Russia’s IT sector would see annual growth in spending rise from 14.6 percent to 18.2 percent between 2008 and 2011 with a 10 point cut in piracy, with 20.2 percent growth for India and 21.4 percent for Kazakhstan (both with a 10 point piracy reduction).

“The IDC data offer convincing evidence that countries with moderate and high piracy rates stand to gain the most from reducing piracy in terms of creating stronger local IT sectors — and stronger economies and societies overall,” Holleyman said.

“With this report, we are able to further quantify the many benefits that nations can obtain through stronger protection of intellectual property and greater education and awareness of IP rights in the software marketplace,” said John Gantz, Chief Research Officer, IDC. “It’s clear that reducing software piracy delivers real results that help real people with real challenges.”

Steps Governments Can Take to Reduce Software Piracy

BSA encourages all governments to reduce software piracy and reap the economic benefits by taking the following steps:

- Update national copyright laws to implement World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) obligations;

- Create strong enforcement mechanisms, as required by the World Trade Organization (WTO), including tough anti-piracy laws;

- Dedicate significant government resources to the problem, including national IP enforcement units, cross-border cooperation, and more training for local officers;

- Improve public education and awareness;

- Lead by example by requiring the public sector to use only legitimate software.

The BSA-IDC study, which is available online at http://www.bsa.org/idcstudy, looks at the bottom-line economic benefits of reducing piracy in 42 countries that together account for more than 90 percent of global IT spending in 2007. The cornerstone of the research is IDC's Piracy Impact Model (PIM) which takes inputs from IDC's market research around the globe on IT spending and software piracy, along with other information on IT employment levels and IT-related taxes.