Low prices key to stop software piracy

Low prices key to stop software piracy

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): It was indeed a funny coincidence that I should
receive a 14-page news release faxed directly from a major
software vendor in Singapore right after I presented my personal
views on software piracy in my article last week.

Although I know that stealing is stealing and that it is a
black-and-white matter, the news release does shed some light on
the rather shoddy business practices of one of the world's
leading software companies.

According to this faxed news release, we'll all soon be
hearing about a consent decree reached very recently between this
particular software company, the U.S. Department of Justice and
the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition.

The consent decree will, in essence, end the anti-competition
practices that the company has been exercising all this time.
Among other things, the company will have to stop forcing PC
manufacturers to pay royalties although they are not selling
their PC's with its operating system.

Now, do you have any idea who's been paying for all these
royalties all these years? It's definitely not the computer
vendors themselves. It's us, the computer buyers, since all costs
are always passed on to the customers.

DoubleSpace case

Perhaps you have also heard that MS DOS 6.21 has been
released. The only difference it has from MS DOS 6.2 is that
there's no DoubleSpace data compression utility. Stac
Electronics, the maker of Stacker, has won an already widely
published lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation, as the latter
has illegally incorporated some of the compression techniques
belonging to Stacker in its DoubleSpace. On the other hand,
Microsoft has also won over Stac Electronics, as the latter has
reverse-engineered DoubleSpace's ability to get loaded before
CONFIG.SYS is read.

What interests us here is the fact that software vendors have
been proven before the court of law that they are guilty of
violating each other's property rights. Is it really such a big
deal now that so many unlicensed users are using their products?

Affordable

I strongly believe that the only way we can encourage people
to buy original software is by making it really affordable for
average users with average incomes. In this connection, I would
like to give a hearty round of applause to Lotus Development
Corp.'s representatives for Indonesia for their exemplary
strategy.

Last week, during a Lotus products presentation, their dealers
announced their offering of bundled Ami Pro 3.01 and Lotus 1-2-3
for Windows Release 4.0 for US$360.00. If you happen to have an
original copy from a competing product, you can have the bundle
for US$ 150.00. Now, with such a low price for two superb
software programs, I really think there should be no more reason
for corporate organizations and government offices in this coun
try to keep using pirated copies.

I am convinced that lowering the price does not necessarily
mean losing money. If you were selling cookies and they were not
selling and were getting spoiled because they were too expensive,
wouldn't it be more reasonable to sell the cookies at a lower
price? By selling more copies, I believe vendors will be able to
maintain their profitability and the technological performance of
their R&D department.

How I wish more and more software publishers were making the
same move as Lotus. That is, making their products more afford
able in this country.

U.S. prices

For those of you who don't have access to U.S.-based computer
magazines, here's a sample of the latest prices of popular software
offered by MicroWarehouse, one of the oldest mail-order
companies in that country: PageMaker 5.0, $589.00; Borland C++
4.0, $339.95; Borland Paradox for Windows 4.5, $139.95; Quattro
Pro for Windows 5.0, $45.95; PCTools for Windows 2.0, $95.95;
1-2-3 for Windows 4.0, 309.95; Ami Pro 3.01, $269.95; Excel 5.0,
$ 299.95; FoxPro for Windows 2.6, $89.95; Winword 6.0, $299.95;
CorelDRAW! 5.0 (Diskettes), $599.95; CorelDRAW! 5.0 (CD),
$469.95; Norton Desktop for Windows 3.0, $109.95 and Norton
Utilities 8.0, $114.95.

In addition, here are the upgrade prices offered by WordPer
fect Corp. until August 1994: WordPerfect 5.1+, $49.95; WordPer
fect 6.0b for DOS, $99.00, and WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows,
$99.00. Can you believe this? For comparison, you're free to
check the prices of the same products at local dealers.

Let's make it clear once again. Let's get the message through.
If software programs were as "uncopyable" or "unpirateable" as
Honda Accords, there wouldn't be so much enthusiasm around for
computer products. Computer exhibitions wouldn't be as packed as
they are now. People in offices and schools wouldn't be as
familiar with the highly technical nitty-gritty of computer
hardware and software as they are now. Consequently, there
wouldn't be so much demand for original software, either.

If software publishers really worry about the increasing rate
of software piracy, there's only one thing they can do: Lower the
price, particularly in developing countries in which software
piracy is claimed to be rampant. Most important of all, set a
good example to computer users! Be honest to each other before
demanding software users to be honest.