Sunday, February 24, 2008

Read this Before You Surf!

The Business Software Alliance (BSA), an alliance of international software companies, launched on Feb. 22 a regional campaign that aims to protect the public against the many risks posed by the Internet.

The campaign dubbed as “B4Usurf”, features an Asia-wide cyber-safety and educational website, www.b4usurf.org. The website contains materials, resources and activities covering topics ranging from intellectual property and web-browsing security to the use of software applications in tracking Internet activities.

This move by the BSA is somewhat timely as the number of Internet users in Asia is ballooning, growing even faster than the worldwide average. Between 2000 to 2007, Internet users in Asia grew by an astounding 346.6% as compared to the world average of 265.6%, according to Tarun Sawney, BSA director for anti-piracy for Asia, in a presentation at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.

As of Dec. 2007, the Asian region has accounted for 38.7% of Internet users worldwide as per the data provided by Internet World Stats. On the other hand, market research firm ACNielsen had estimated that the number of Internet users in the Philippines is around 24 million.

No comments: