RI to set up property rights task force

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.