Software producers praise govt for piracy decline

Software producers praise govt for piracy decline

Tony Hotland, Jakarta

An international association of software producers gave some
rare praise on Thursday to the Indonesian government after a
study showed a small decline in the country's piracy rate in
2003.

The director of Business Software Alliance (BSA) for Asia,
Tarun Sawney, said that in 2003 the software piracy rate in
Indonesia stood at 88 percent -- meaning 88 percent of computers
in the country used pirated software -- down from 89 percent in
2002.

He noted that the decline could have been as much as five
percentage points if the 2003 and 2002 surveys used similar
parameters.

Until 2002, the agency only surveyed the use of business
software applications.

Last year, for the first time, the agency conducted a broader
survey covering operating systems, consumer software and locally
made software, in addition to business software applications.

The 2003 study -- conducted by BSA and the Singapore-based
International Data Corporation -- was based on the number of
shipped personal computers and software, software load, market
growth and revenue garnered from software sales.

BSA is an international organization that promotes a safe and
legal digital world. Its members include Adobe, Apple, IBM,
Intel, McAfee and Microsoft.

"Although the parameters used (in the 2002 and 2003 surveys)
were different, both the figures nonetheless suggest a decrease
in piracy activity here," Sawney said.

He concluded that Indonesia had made progress in combating
software piracy thanks to efforts by the government, including a
number of raids on pirated software sellers and campaigns to
educate the public on the importance of intellectual property
rights.

Despite the decrease, however, Indonesia still ranks fourth in
the world in terms of software piracy after Vietnam and China (92
percent), and Ukraine (91 percent).

Urging the government to push the antipiracy drive, Sawney
estimated that if the country was able to reduce the software
piracy rate to as low as 78 percent, Indonesia could add US$100
million in tax revenue and create more than 4,000 jobs within
four years.

A reduction of 10 percentage points in the rate would mean
that Indonesia's information technology industry, which is now
valued at $1 billion, could grow to $2.4 billion, he said.

"It creates ripple effects as it stimulates other industries
such as manufacturing and paper, as well as the provision of
employment in the form of training programs and maintenance,"
Sawney said.

With an 88 percent piracy rate, Indonesia is estimated to have
lost some $90 million last year, down from $102.9 million in
2002.