Piracy suits don't deter illegal software dealers

JAKARTA (JP): The business of selling pirated software here remains brisk, despite legal action in two separate courts taken by the giant software company, the Microsoft Corporation, against five computer dealers over software piracy.

The dealers, PT Panca Putra Komputindo, HM Computer, HJ Computer, Altec Computer and PT Kusumo Megah Jaya Sakti, are charged with allegedly installing Microsoft products on computers they sold, without complying with the terms of the product license.

Microsoft is demanding that each company pay between US$1 million to US$ 5 million in damages. The courts are expected to present the verdicts on Monday and next month.

However, the charges have not discouraged traders in Mangga Dua shopping mall in North Jakarta, where they have their computer shops, from selling pirated software products.

Mangga Dua shopping mall is well-known among people here as a haven for pirated software.

Even a shop named Procom, which reportedly belongs to one of the accused, has continued its business as usual.

When asked whether the shop still sold pirated software, the attendant replied, "Yes, maybe until all stocks have run out."

"We couldn't halt our business just because of that (the case). I have five staff members here and we all have to live," said Margareta, a computer dealer in Harco Mangga Dua Plaza.

She said almost all computer dealers there provided pirated software as well as originals for their customers.

"But most of them prefer to buy pirated software since the price is cheaper," she told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Her shop sells computer hardware and accessories, including software, ink and paper. It provides branded PCs as well as assembled ones.

For each PC, it also installs standard software such as pirated Microsoft Office 2000 and Windows 1998.

According to Margareta, in a day it could sell up to five PCs at most and over 10 pirated software CD-ROMs.

Meanwhile, another dealer, Ah Ngo, blamed software producers since they sold their products at "exorbitant prices".

"They have never considered that consumers here are not as wealthy as those abroad. Never!" he said, adding that consumers here also deserve to enjoy new technology, like their counterparts in other countries.

Ah Ngo said the price of an assembled computer could be as low as Rp 6 million (US$612.2) including pirated software, while the lowest price for an original computer and software from Microsoft is over Rp 15 million.

According to Ah Ngo, the computer business is very competitive these days. Therefore, computer hardware dealers have to provide pirated software as well so that "they can beat the competition".

"I know that it is against the law, but I am not afraid. This mall would be empty should police arrest us for such an offense since we all sell pirated software here," he said, adding that many street vendors also sold pirated software CD-ROMs there.

However, he admitted that he displayed fewer pirated software CD-ROMs in his shop, although he still installed pirated software on PCs he sold.

Besides computer dealers in Mangga Dua shopping mall, those in Ratu Plaza, also known as a computer trading center, in South Jakarta, also provide pirated software alongside originals.

Most of the shop attendants there insisted that they only provided pirated software to give a wider choice to customers, while the decision on what to buy depended on them.

Separately, a private university student, Franky, commented that the presence of pirated software was "very helpful" for computer users like he, who could not afford to pay for originals.

"The price of original software is very high. It can reach hundreds of dollars. I am only a university student, how could I possibly afford it?" he told the Post.

According to a lawyer for Microsoft, Indonesia ranked sixth in the world, of countries with the most serious copyright violations.(04)