Government, businesses join hands to fight piracy

Government, businesses join hands to fight piracy

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a bid to curb the rampant piracy that has cost the government
and the private sector trillions of rupiah, the Ministry of
Justice and Human Rights and a number of private firms joined
hands on Thursday to establish an anti-counterfeiting society.

The establishment of the Indonesian Anti-Counterfeiting
Society (MIAP) is primarily aimed at protecting consumers from
the harmful effects of the counterfeit products that have
penetrated the market, MIAP chairman Ian Barty said.

The group also will act as a pressure group on law enforcers
to work to uphold regulations against counterfeiting.

The country has a 2002 copyright protection law, which imposes
penalties of five years imprisonment or Rp 500 million
(US$60,000) in fines for those found guilty of counterfeiting.

"This society will play a great role in the battle against
counterfeiting, which has had adverse effects on our consumers,"
Ian said during the launch of MIAP.

Established in January, the society includes such high-profile
companies such as Aqua-Danone, Epson, Microsoft and Philips
Electronics.

The director general of intellectual property rights at the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Abdul Bari Azed, said the
ministry fully supported the work of the MIAP, which he said
would benefit the government through increased tax revenue.

"The government loses about Rp 1 trillion in tax revenue per
annum from counterfeiting," he said, adding that worldwide losses
from counterfeit goods were estimated at between 5 percent and 7
percent of world trade volume.

A report by the Business Software Alliance for 2002 said that
Indonesia ranked third in software piracy after China and
Vietnam.

And a report by the Association of the Indonesian Recording
Industry said that in 2002 the level of piracy of recorded
materials reached alarming levels, with 10 pirated versions for
every original copy.

It noted that the number of pirated recorded materials stood
at 363 million, dwarfing sales of originals which reached 34.2
million.