Yusril blames police and prosecutors for continued IPR piracy
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia has a complete set of legal instruments to protect the holders of intellectual property rights (IPR) from piracy but police and prosecutors alike lack commitment and the sort of comprehension of the IPR legislation that is needed to enforce it properly.
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Monday that continuing piracy in Indonesia was caused by both lack of commitment to punishing pirates as well as poor knowledge about the IPR legislation on the part of the police and prosecutors.
"My ministry has promoted many laws to protect IPR holders from piracy. I believe our legal system has everything needed to punish the pirates," said Yusril on the sidelines of a ceremony to celebrate world IPR day.
In 2000, Indonesia amended a number of laws and enacted new legislation on IPR, including Law No. 30 on trade secrecy, Law No. 31 on industrial design, and Law No. 32 on layout and design. In 2001, the government amended two previous laws to become Law No. 14 on patents and Law No. 15 on trademarks. In 2002, it produced Law No. 19 on copyrights.
Yusril added that many IPR violations were left unpunished either because they were not processed at all by the police and prosecutors or because the two law enforcement bodies had dropped the cases somewhere along the way.
"Many cases were not processed while we don't know what happened to many others which are being investigated by the police or prosecutors. This is either because they lack commitment or legal knowledge," said Yusril.
He complained that his ministry could not do anything to solve the current problems except proposing laws and ensuring that cases made it to court. The country's legal system stipulates that the police and prosecution service are the only law enforcement agencies.
Since its establishment, the commercial court, which still comes under the supervision of the ministry, has performed well dealing with IPR violation cases.
The court issued down verdicts on all 11 cases filed in 2001 without delay. Out of 63 cases in 2002, 52 were resolved. In 2000, out of 84 cases, 73 cases were resolved.
Yusril proposed that the next Cabinet should make efforts to integrate both the law-making and law enforcement processes in order to help eradicate piracy.
"Coordination on curbing piracy is very important. In the U.S., the Department of Justice is both law maker and law enforcer. It can investigate alleged criminals. Our next government should consider this," said Yusril.
According to data from the ministry, Indonesia incurred a total of US$259.9 million in losses in 2002 because of piracy. This total included film industry losses of US$28 million, music industry losses of $92.3 million, software industry losses of $109.6 million, and publishing industry losses of $30 million.
During the event to mark IPR day, the ministry presented awards to three winners for the best industrial designs. Andar Bagus Sriwarno won first prize with his flexible wooden chair, followed by Rahmat Junaedi and his colleagues with their "motorcycle car". In third place was Daim Abdul Choliq with his hernia pants.