RI ranks fifth in software piracy out of 93 countries
RI ranks fifth in software piracy out of 93 countries
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Illegal software accounted for 87 percent of all computer
programs sold in Indonesia in 2004, according to a global
software piracy watchdog.
Asia-Pacific regional director of Business Software Alliance
(BSA), Jeffrey Hardee, told reporters in a teleconference on
Wednesday that the 87 percent piracy rate, down from the 98
percent reported by the BSA in 1996, was more than double the
global average of 35 percent and the Asia-Pacific regional
average of 53 percent.
The prevalence of illegally installed software in the country
was the fifth highest out of the 93 countries surveyed, after
Vietnam, Ukraine, China and Zimbabwe.
Sales of legal software in 2004 accounted for US$27.3 million
in Indonesia, compared to a potential market of about $210
million, according to a BSA study, which was conducted by
computer-industry research firm International Data Corporation.
The study took into account business software, computer games
and operating systems. Open-source software was not counted as
being pirated.
Hardee attributed the high piracy rate in Indonesia to the lax
enforcement of the Intellectual Property Law.
He added that the U.S.-based BSA, which operates in 65
countries, including Indonesia, would continue to lobby
governments and law enforcement agencies to take action against
software copyright violations, especially those conducted by
corporations.
"Our major concern is corporate end-user violations," said
Hardee, whose organization is supported by companies such as
Microsoft, Apple and Adobe. "A lot of them (corporations) buy
legal software but install it in more computers than licensed
for."
He said that to combat corporate software license violations,
the BSA had established a hotline for people to report the usage
of illegal software.
He added that whistle-blowers reporting verifiable usage of
illegal software could receive a reward of up to Rp 50 million
(US$5,241).
Last week, based on a tip the BSA received, police raided a
company in Bogor and seized 63 computers that contained 203
illegally installed programs. The commercial use of unlicensed
software is a violation of Copyright Law No. 19/2002 and is
punishable by a maximum prison term of five years and/or a fine
of up to Rp 500 million.
The high rate of software piracy, as well as the pervasive
copyright violations in the movie and music industries, has led
to Indonesia's inclusion in the United States' Priority Watch
List.
The existence of a perceived loophole in the Copyright Law in
the form of Article 57, which exempts people using illegal
software for non-commercial use from civil lawsuits, was also
cited as a reason for Indonesia's inclusion in the list.
The Priority Watch List, which currently lists 14 countries,
is a step below the most severe category: Priority Foreign
Country, which carries possible trade sanctions. Ukraine is the
only country designated as a Priority Foreign Country and remains
subject to a $75 million trade sanction. (002)