New copyright law to boost local software industry
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The adoption of a new copyright law, that will take effect next year, will encourage more creativity, development and investment in the local software industry, key players said on Thursday.
Richard Kartawijaya, an executive of the Association of Indonesian Software and Telematic Developers (Aspiluki), said the association's 180 members were preparing moves to anticipate the lucrative domestic market, with more protection.
"The industry is promising here. Actually, our technicians and products have entered the international market. But most of them are reluctant to open businesses in Indonesia due to the rampant piracy," he told a media briefing here.
Under the amended Law No. 19/2002 on Copyrights signed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri in June, those involved in software piracy are subject to a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rp 500 million (US$55,493).
The law will come into effect in June, 2003.
Richard added that currently there were around 400 software houses in Indonesia, 60 percent were located in Jakarta and 10 percent in the West Java capital of Bandung.
"Their quality of products can be categorized as magnificent," he told the media briefing.
The media briefing was held by the Directorate General for Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, together with Aspiluki and the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a multinational association grouping big software companies such as Adobe, Apple Computer, Compaq, Dell, IBM, Intel and Microsoft.
During the briefing, they announced that they would hold a seminar on the "Importance to Foster Creativity in A Competitive and Conducive Atmosphere by Using Legal Software" on Tuesday.
BSA representative for Thailand and Indonesia Jonathan Selvasegaram said the presence of the new law showed that the government was serious in addressing software piracy, which was still rampant.
Last year, Indonesia was named the third ranked country involved in software piracy in the world after Vietnam and China.
Quoting a 2001 survey, Selvasegaram said nine out of 10 computers in Indonesia use unlicensed software.
The high rate of the use of pirated software is equal to $79 million, added BSA Vice President and Asia Pacific Director Jeffrey J. Hardee.
Computer users in Indonesia are mostly businesses with a small number of personal users.
Software piracy takes many forms, such as the copying of programs by users exceeding the quota allowed by the license holder, the installment of unlicensed programs to new hardware by the seller or the copying of programs available on the internet.
Richard argued that most of the piracy culprits were aware that such practices were a crime against intellectual property but, up to now, the existing law categorized the crime merely as a petty crime and failed to deter the culprits.
The new law, nevertheless, categorized piracy as a serious crime, with threat of a five-year jail term and Rp 500 million fine.
Selvasegaram said that even with the new law, BSA would not take drastic measures but take the role to educate computer users on software copyrights.
"The users should be aware that the use of legitimate software will give more benefit to the business," he added.