UK firms are still ignoring the legal dangers of allowing unlicensed software to be copied and shared on their systems, according to the latest annual piracy report from the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

Research carried out by analyst firm IDC found that 27 percent of software used in the UK is illegal. This rate is unchanged since 2004 and costs software firms $1.8bn each year in lost revenue.

Employees in large organisations are more likely to take advantage of broadband and other technologies to illegally share and copy software, according to Julie Strawson, the BSA's UK chair.

"There is pressure on organisations to tackle [piracy],” Strawson added. " The challenge to large organisations is that IT departments are good at managing software [but] find it hard to control what every user is doing."

The new ISO 19770-1 standard for software asset management could help firms ensure their software is legal, and the BSA offers educational resources for end-users and IT managers, said Siobhan Carroll, the BSA's regional manager for northern Europe. The BSA also has an enforcement programme to impose penalties on offending firms.

"These numbers shouldn't be tolerated," said Carroll. "There remains a hardcore element in the UK of businesses which are continuing to ignore the fact that they need legal software."

Apart from potential legal and financial penalties, firms with unsupported software may also find mission-critical applications will not be eligible for important security updates or technical support, the BSA warned.

In related news, software lifecycle management specialist Enteo is to launch version 3.2 of its Inventory software asset-management tool next month. Version 3.2 will include capabilities to detect 42,000 hardware devices and software packages. IT departments can also program it to detect applications developed in-house, according to the firm.