New body earnest in their fight to stop piracy
By Stevie Emilia
JAKARTA (JP): Illegal transactions are usually pereformed in secrecy. But in the case of pirated VCDs, CDs, cassettes and software, one only needs to look around nearby shopping centers or sidewalk vendors. It's all out there, and much cheaper and easier to get than original products.
Such openness puts Indonesia on the hot spot. In line with agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO), as of January this year Indonesia is one of a number of countries that must comply with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIP).
For the illegal traders, the consequences of being caught selling anything which violates copyright law is a prison sentence of seven years and a fine up to Rp 100 million.
Under the climate of change, a new organization -- the Indonesian Society Against Piracy and Pornography (MAPPI) -- was launched on Jan. 24.
The Jakarta Post talked to the society's chairman, Abdul Wahid Aziz Bisri, who is also chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Jami'a Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization and a cousin of President Abdurrahman Wahid, at his home on Tuesday.
The following is an excerpt of the interview:
Question: Why was MAPPI set up in the first place?
Answer: We have serious concerns about the rampant violations of intellectual property rights, not to mention the dirty conspiracies that go with them. We want to do something to prevent this from spreading further, as part of our contribution to the country.
Many people are disadvantaged by this practice. Producers who work hard, and artists and songwriters who are trying to create quality work. Many suffer great losses due to piracy but can't do much about it.
And the greatest loss is suffered by the country. Each year, Rp 2 trillion in taxes that should be collected from this sector vanish because of piracy. That's only from those cases that can be monitored. But I believe it's worth more than just that.
How serious is piracy?
Pirated products can be found anywhere, and so openly. I can buy pirated cassettes from sidewalk vendors for only Rp 4,500, and their quality is not so bad.
About pornography: We can buy porn VCDs easily. I have seen this for myself. Porn VCDs are sold for Rp 10,000 each. If we do nothing to stop this, what will happen 10 years from now?
On the other side, if we let this piracy continue, our artistic and cultural life might stop at this point. I mean, look, the Bimbo group have refused to write any more new songs because once they are released, they will immediately be pirated while the group lose their royalty rights. If that is how things work, why compose songs? There is no need to be creative. If artists or others think that way and refuse to develop their creative process for fear of piracy, it is us, as a nation, who suffer the greatest loss.
People love pirated goods because they are cheap, right?
It's related to people's buying power. People here are not used to choosing something based on quality, or deciding to buy good quality products only. Upper-class people might think that way, but middle to lower-class people prefer to do it the easiest way. They like buying goods on the roadside, without having to go to certain stores. These may be among the reasons why pirated products are flourishing.
What will your organization actually do?
MAPPI will urge and advocate to the community to become more moral. Stealing, in all shapes and forms, is immoral. We can enlighten people, and raise their sense of shame before God. People say that all this piracy occurs due to wrong management or the wrong concepts. But the fundamental matter is one of morality. It seems like we no longer feel ashamed of wrongdoing, including piracy.
It seems really difficult, improving one's morals?
Yes, but in practice, after the advocacy, there will be raids conducted after we have first learned where the piracy centers are and where the pirated products are being sold. The pirated products will then be confiscated and destroyed. These operations will be in cooperation with the police, since there may be some arrests.
On the other hand, we know that most traders just receive pirated products. This time, they will get goods from legal producers only. In the beginning, it might be hard for them to sell original products due to the drastic change of price. But it has to be started.
With these efforts, we're trying to put pressure on the pirates, who are used to being protected either by the system or by corrupt police officers.
I was told earlier by a journalist that most pirates are backed by 'carp fish' (a term used for an influential figure). I told him that we won't be 'carp fish', but we will be whales. We have to prepare ourselves ... Protection of human rights and intellectual property rights is a new form of patriotism because we are fighting to protect and guarantee people's right to create something, instead of letting those thieves kill the creativity of our artists or others.
What do you mean by whale?
All this time, our problem has been because of the long trauma created by the 32 years of New Order regime. For example, I was informed by ASIRI (the Association of Indonesian Recording Companies) that the Pemuda Pancasila youth organization used to collect Rp 300 per sold cassette from producers, and no one dared to complain. But, with God's gift of total reform, we should act independently. There is no reason to fear those described as tigers who swallow their victims.
Those who are reading this might think that we are exaggerating, but we'll prove it in the field. We will do something, seriously, so all people's rights will be protected, especially intellectual property rights. The artists are entitled to be rewarded for their hard work. We will not give a chance to those lazy people, the pirates, to ransack other people's rights.
But with our weak legal system?
Yes, widespread piracy is also due to the absence of strict laws and legal enforcement. Meanwhile, the piracy of intellectual property rights is performed by strong and well-organized syndicates.
But we're going to prepare an advocacy program on the matter and to fight for the endorsement of a law on the protection of intellectual property rights. The bill is now with the house and we hope it will be endorsed soon.
You will work with police officers on the raids, while the pirates are said to be protected by them. What will happen?
Yes, we will cooperate with security officers during the operations because we can't take justice into our own hands. We should uphold the law. We will always be under the command of officials. If they don't want to act we will remind them. Besides, we see that the cleaning within the police has been intensive and many people have put their hope in the good leadership of the new police chief.
How can you be sure that arrested pirates will not be released without being prosecuted?
It's back to the mentality of those involved in the operations. MAPPI will evaluate and monitor officers and those taking part in the operations. MAPPI is not an organization where its leaders get together and then issue statements. Rather, we will be involved in the raids. We will really prepare them. We're not kidding, we're serious.
How long do you think it will take to combat the piracy of intellectual property rights here?
If you ask how long, the fight will go on. But we have targets, both short and long term. For instance, a year for advocacy, the next year, operations. Maybe they can be done at the same time. One thing is for sure, there will be no compromise because it is about one's rights. We will suggest to those pirates they should feel ashamed, acting like thieves.
But it's impossible to completely eliminate it?
If we can reduce the amount of pirated goods from 100 percent to only five percent, we can say that it's finished. But to completely eradicate the problem, ideally we hope to and I'm certain we can, but it will take a long time.
Could we improve the country's image?
Yes, I believe so. Indonesia is now the second worst country after China for its record of piracy of intellectual property rights. So, this matter is strongly related to foreign countries' trust in us. We have a bad record, that's why we set up MAPPI. In the end, we hope that our efforts will make our country a trusted one, and, importantly, one that we can be proud of.