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)