Piracy harms SE Asian economies: Study
Piracy harms SE Asian economies: Study
SINGAPORE (AP): Southeast Asian countries could create tens of
thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenues by
cracking down on software piracy, according to a regional study
released yesterday.
As the industry has pressured Asian governments to curb
piracy, officials have demanded proof that such enforcement would
benefit state and society, said Stuart Ong, Asia vice president
of the Business Software Alliance, the Washington-based group
that commissioned the study.
Ong said the yearlong study by the Price Waterhouse accounting
firm would be offered as proof to governments throughout the
region. The countries studied were Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
An estimated 84 percent of the software used in Southeast Asia
was illegal, the study said.
"If everyone joined in a concerted effort to reduce software
piracy, there would be a quantum leap in employment to 46,076
people, and in taxes to US$1.3 billion in these six countries in
2001," Ong said.
A sustained government effort would make it too costly for
software pirates to remain in business, said U.S. Ambassador
Steven J. Green, who attended the news conference.
The study showed that reducing software piracy in Southeast
Asia to the U.S. level of 27 percent in 1996 could have created
14,000 jobs and generated $246.3 million in tax revenues in 1996,
according to the study.
"The government loses tax revenues as the economy is
impacted," Green said. "And intellectual property right piracy
can become a major political issue between trading parties if the
problem gets out of control."
On Saturday, the U.S. Trade Representative added Singapore to
a watch list of 32 trading partners where intellectual property
rights are under threat. Singapore's reputation in the area has
worsened in recent years as the sale of counterfeit software has
become more blatant and the island state has become a source for
exporting the stolen property.
Piracy is often cited as a major reason why software giants,
such as Microsoft, have yet to join Multimedia Super Corridor in
Malaysia, often touted as the Asian Silicon Valley. The MSC is
envisioned as a sprawling city that intends to attract foreign
businesses to manufacture multimedia products.
When Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates visited in March, he
praised the MSC, but made no investment in the project. A local
Microsoft manager said the company was waiting for Malaysia to
adopt tougher anti-piracy laws.
A senior executive in a software company said piracy affected
investment decisions. "I believe if piracy rates were equal to
the rate in the U.S., Adobe's investment in this region would be
three to four times what it is today," said Graham Freeman,
Adobe's vice president.