Discouraging software piracy to protect intellectual wealth
THE issue of software piracy came into international discussion in the late '80s when personal computers with Internet connection started being used in offices and homes.
In the '90s, a significant number of computer users in Bangladesh started using pirated software. Not only home users, but also businesses and government offices were run by unlicensed software. Most of them didn't realise that it was a crime. Software pirates, even in IDB Bhaban, the biggest computer market, don't feel guilty about hanging banners on their shops that say: “Pirated software is sold here.”
Bangladesh was ranked several times as one of the topmost countries in software piracy. The latest survey by BSA revealed that software piracy in the country came down to 87% from 92%. In India, it came down to 60% from 69%, and in China to 74% from 82%.
The scenario is improving slowly because the developing countries have just started understanding that they are not just users. To protect your own creative contents, and disseminate these to the international market, you must have intellectual property protection or people won't invest mind and money in the creative jobs.
The problem of piracy was ignored in the developing nations. People were given scope to learn the technology on pirated software. There is software piracy even in the US, which means that the problem can't be solved overnight. Thus, some suggest limited use of pirated software for education, poverty alleviation and home users. But the suggestion lost its importance due to the rise in popularity of open-source software and freeware. Now we have an alternative to pirated software, but software piracy is still a booming industry.
Over eight hundred registered companies along with a few hundred unregistered bodies, and many home-based small software enterprises, are earning revenue and contributing to the growth of the software and Information Technology (IT) enabled industry. A few years back the country was branded as one of the outsourcing destinations. Now, some of the local software developers are victims of piracy, and thus they are discouraged from innovating. They are deprived of returns on their own investment.
Many local products have been stolen too; they were replicated and some of them are coming into the market as open-source software. It is the easiest way to legitimise the stolen products, and hurt and discourage the designers. Hackers get credit for releasing open-source software that is actually a stolen one. The body that registers complaints and enforces laws in favour of designers is not that active.
Software piracy also brings other types of pirated contents like music, videos and books into the discussion of intellectual property. Piracy of creative products in the country has turned into an industry in front of the law enforcers. In fact, there is no watchdog to reveal this to the media as well as the people; the copyrights law in the country is yet to focus on the issue.
Unfortunately, there's almost no initiative to tell people that piracy is a crime, original software is good for data protection, and 91% of the computers are at risk because they are run by pirated software.
Sometimes, the rise of digital product piracy looks almost unstoppable. The regulatory frame of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPs, and World Trade Organization, say that piracy can't be stopped unless there is a massive awareness about its dangers. It was a mistaken effort by the US and its allied nations to insist that the developing nations make laws to stop piracy. They might have prepared laws, but remained silent when executing them was urged. So, instead of policing over computer users, massive awareness is the solution.
A few raids in Dhaka for cracking down on piracy were reported, but success was very poor. Even police don't know what piracy is. They just fined the pirated software sellers for keeping adult movies. It seemed keeping the other pirated CDs were not considered a crime.
People must know that the price of original products is going down, and when we all use the original ones price would be much lower. Banks and corporate offices have already learnt that there is no loss in the licensed products, but there are many benefits.
Bangladeshis have recently started buying original products and licensed antivirus software. Within a few years, stolen antivirus software will no longer exist in the country.
Foreign investment in the country is being hampered because of piracy and misuse of available technology for stealing products. To attract international businesses, along with better infrastructure, we have to use licensed software.
The country aims to become Digital Bangladesh by 2021. ICT has been given much focus, but stopping software piracy should be included in the vision 2021. Intellectual property is wealth, like a mine of gold, that should be protected for the interest of the country.
The writer is the Executive Director of Center for ICT Policy Research. E-mail: [email protected]
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