RI to set up property rights task force

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a bid to curb rampant intellectual property piracy in the country, the government is planning to establish a task force that would strengthen coordination among law enforcers.

"Media reports give the impression that the government does not deploy adequate measures to deal with piracy. In fact, it just lacks coordination among law enforcers" said Abdul Bari Azed, director general of intellectual property rights at Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

Bari said that the task force would comprise officials from the ministry of justice and human rights, the National Police, the Customs Office, the Prosecutor's Office, and the Court Office. The task force should report to the ministry of justice and human rights.

The United States has placed Indonesia on the list of most- watched countries for property rights violations since 2000.

The establishment of a task force to fight against piracy was significant since the country also ranked third on the list of countries that pirated software.

Business Software Alliances reported in June last year that pirated software stood at 88 percent of Indonesia's software market, causing losses worth US$79 million to software vendors.

Various raids have been carried out repeatedly by authorities in Jakarta and other big cities to confiscate pirated copies of music and movie VCDs, books and computer software, but still no major changes have occurred.

The country already has a Copyright Law which carries heavy sentences for violators, but its implementation has not been as good as it should have been due to the absence of guidelines on its implementation.

Emawati Junus, director of copyrights industry design, integrated circuits design, and trademark at Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, said that the task force would formulate operational guidelines for concerted efforts to combat violations against intellectual property rights.

"It will identify problems, set priorities in action plans, and control operational policies. The team will also negotiate if police have problems with traders of pirated materials during raids," she said.

Revision to the Copyright Law has been endorsed by the House of Representatives last year and would take effect in July this year.

According to the law, copyright violations carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison or a Rp 5 billion fine while those who publish, display, distribute or sell pirated materials risk a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment or a Rp 500 million fine.

Emawati emphasized that besides causing losses to the country's potential tax income, increasing piracy would also hamper people's creativity and the investment climate.

"Violations (of intellectual property rights) have created problems, especially in international relationships as several countries confront us with the piracy issues in trade negotiations," she said.

Piracy in VCDs, CDs, and cassettes has accounted for losses to the country in potential income worth Rp 951.26 billion in 2001.

"Piracy also impedes local and foreign investors to do business here because it creates unfair business competition," Emawati said. One pirated VCD costs only Rp 10,000 while the original one is Rp 59,000.