'RI's IT industry could double by 2009': BSA<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nJakarta\/Singapore<\/p>\n
If it were not for software piracy, the Information Technology
\n(IT) industry in Indonesia would have created new jobs and
\nincreased local industry revenues.<\/p>\n
A study by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) -- an
\ninternational organization actively fighting the use of illegal
\ncomputer software -- claimed on Thursday that a 10-point
\nreduction in the country's current 87 percent piracy rate would
\nyield growth in the industry of more than US$4.2 billion by 2009.<\/p>\n
Should the piracy rate be decreased to 77 percent, the country
\nwould add $3.3 billion to its economy within four years, create
\n3,000 more job opportunities in the sector and increase local
\nindustry revenues by more than $1.5 billion, the study claimed.<\/p>\n
Overall, the benefits could generate an additional $152
\nmillion in taxes.<\/p>\n
\"It is clear from the study that software piracy is not only
\nabout stealing software. It steals jobs, tax revenues and
\neconomic growth,\" BSA Indonesia Committee chairman Ronald Chua
\nsaid in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"The government must take tangible steps to protect
\nintellectual property and reduce software piracy,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The government has banned the use of unlicensed software
\nprograms as stipulated in the copyright law No. 19\/2002. The law
\nstates that perpetrators can be sentenced to a maximum of five
\nyears imprisonment and fined up to Rp 500 million (US$51,000).<\/p>\n
BSA highlighted that demand for software in Indonesia between
\n2000 and 2004 grew by 34 percent -- the fastest growth in the IT
\nsector in the region.<\/p>\n
By reducing its software piracy rate, the country's growth
\ncould have stood at 152 percent instead of the projected 79
\npercent between 2004 and 2009.<\/p>\n
In the study -- conducted by research firm International Data
\nCorp. -- Indonesia had the third-worst record with 87 percent of
\nsoftware illegally acquired, a 1 percent decrease from the
\nprevious study of 88 percent.<\/p>\n
The biggest culprits in the Asia Pacific region were Vietnam,
\nwhich topped the list with a piracy rate of 92 percent, followed
\nby China at 90 percent. Thailand took fourth spot at 79 percent.<\/p>\n
\"Software is the driving force behind growth in the IT sector,
\nwhich also includes hardware and IT services,\" Hardee said as
\nquoted by AFP. \"When countries take steps to reduce software
\npiracy, just about everyone stands to benefit.\"<\/p>\n
BSA revealed that the regional software piracy rate was 53
\npercent in 2004, unchanged from the previous year. Globally, the
\nsituation improved slightly to 35 percent from 36 percent
\nillegally downloaded in 2003.<\/p>\n
If efforts to cut the piracy rate by 10 percentage points to
\n43 percent by 2009 are successful, $135 billion could be pumped
\ninto the region's economies and state coffers boosted by an extra
\n$14 billion in new tax revenues, the association said.<\/p>\n
Asia's IT industry is worth $195 billion and brings in at
\nleast $120 billion in tax revenues, BSA said.<\/p>\n
Citing China as a case study, BSA said the world's fastest-
\ngrowing economy stood to gain the most of any other country if
\nsoftware piracy could be cut by 10 percentage points from the
\nrate of 90 percent in 2004, which was an improvement from 92
\npercent in the previous year.<\/p>",
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