The Business Software Alliance (BSA) - a trade group supported by Apple, Intuit, Microsoft and about 20 others - has collected $2.2m in out-of-court settlements in its annual software piracy sweep.

The group targets companies that violate software licensing and copyright rules. The BSA claims that 22 per cent of all commercial software licences used in the US alone have not been paid for, costing the industry more than $6.5bn annually.

The group's latest piracy sweep led to settlements with 25 companies. The BSA plans to use the proceeds to fund educational initiatives, such as its campaign to discourage kids from using peer-to-peer networks to swap software, games, music and other copyrighted material.