Government plans to shift to legal software
Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Eight months after authorities began enforcing Law No. 19/2002 on copyrights, the government will begin using licensed software once it finishes taking inventory and negotiating prices, an official said.
A secretary to the state minister for communications and information, J.B. Kristiadi, said on Friday the government was in the process of listing unlicensed software at each of its institutions. It will take approximately one month to finish the inventory.
According to data from the office of the state minister, there are approximately 70,000 computers that need to be listed.
The decision to embark on this effort came following a government summit on the implementation of the copyright law in Bogor on March 9, 2004.
The summit was attended by State Minister for Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif, Kristiadi, who is also the Indonesian Telematics Coordination Team secretary, Association of Indonesian Software and Telematic Developers chairman Djarot Subiantoro and Business Software Alliance (BSA) country chair Choo Hua Wee.
"After the inventory process is done, then we will negotiate with software vendors. Hopefully, we can buy licensed software at lower prices," Kristiadi said.
He said that in Thailand, the price of a package of licensed software had been reduced to US$35 from $350 for the government after a similar copyright law was enacted.
In Indonesia, the prices of legal software range between US$200 and $600 per package, whereas computers cost as little as Rp 2.5 million (US$282) to Rp 5 million.
The high price of licensed software in the country has led many people to opt for unlicensed software, which generally has the same quality at much lower prices.
Data from the BSA shows that the percentage of unlicensed software users increased to 89 percent last year from 88 percent in 2002.
"It means that approximately nine out of 10 computers in Indonesia use pirated software," BSA country chair Choo Hua Wee told The Jakarta Post.
As a result, Wee said, Indonesia was ranked fourth last year in terms of software piracy, behind Vietnam, China and Russia.
Nonetheless, he said, the Indonesian government was taking a positive step in right direction by promoting the use of licensed software in each of its institutions.
"Of course, there's still so much to do, but it's a good step and we're encouraged by the move," he said.
He said that for the time being, the BSA would continue to focus on the government sector to combat software piracy in the country.
"The biggest challenge is to promote the use of legal software among corporate and private users. Thus, we are now focusing on the government first as it will set as an example for others," said Wee.
Under the amended Law No. 19/2002 on copyrights, which came into effect in June last year, those involved in software piracy are subject to a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp 500 million.
BSA is a nonprofit multinational association to promote a legal digital world. It groups big software companies such as Adobe, Apple Computer, Compaq, Dell, IBM, Intel and Microsoft.