Vietnam recorded a PC software piracy rate of
81 per cent last year, down 2 per cent compared to 83 percent in 2010 and 85
per cent in 2009.
The
figures were released at a press briefing in Hanoi on May 17 by the
international Business Software Alliance.
The
alliance’s 2011 Global Software Piracy study showed the commercial value of the
piracy was $395 million, representing a 4 per cent decrease in value from the
previous year.
“The
decrease in software piracy is testament to the great efforts of the
government,” said Tarun Sawney, alliance senior piracy director for the
Asia-Pacific region.
“Admittedly,
there is still much work to be done and Vietnam faces a stiff challenge in reducing
the level of piracy to levels found in the region or the world-60 per cent and
42 per cent, respectively. However, I am confident that Vietnam is on the right
track.”
He said
the alliance worked closely with government authorities in a Partnership in
Protection of Software Copyright, which was established since 2008, to reduce
software piracy rates.
Numerous
education campaigns and software asset management seminars had been conducted
for the business community, including IT retailers and educational
institutions.
Government
outreach and crackdown campaigns have also been the feature of initiatives
conducted to drive down piracy rates.
To get
statistics, Tarun Sawney said the alliance had to find how many new PCs were
used each year and what software were they using and compared that with a
survey on how much software was sold in Vietnam.
“In
order to stimulate the use of legal software, we had to encourage the
government to conduct a public campaign that promotes respect for IP laws and
deter piracy through implementation of stronger criminal and administrative
sanctions,” said Tarun.
Ha
Than, CEO of Lac Viet Computing Corp, said if 81 per cent of consumers admitted
they shoplifted-even rarely-authorities would react by increasing police
patrols and penalties.
Software
piracy demanded a similar response, concerted public education and vigorous law
enforcement.
Coming
from the local software industry scene where they invested heavily into
developing cutting-edge software solutions, they really needed all the help
they could get from the government to ensure a brighter future for themselves.
Some 36
per cent of admitted software pirates in Asia-Pacific surveyed in the study,
said they acquired software illegally “all of the time”, “most of the time”, or
“occasionally”, while 27 per cent said they “rarely” did so. The study also
found that admitted software pirates in Asia-Pacific were predominantly male,
with 32 per cent aged between 18-24.
Alliance
president and CEO Robert Holleyman said software piracy was a drain on the
global economy, IT innovation and job creation. Governments must take steps to
modernise their intellectual property laws and expand enforcement efforts to
ensure those who pirated software face real consequences, he said.
He also
said the global commercial value of pirated software climbed from $58.8 billion
in 2010 to $63.4 billion in 2011.
Globally,
the study found that piracy rates in emerging markets towered over those in
mature markets-68 per cent to 24 per cent, respectively, on average-and
emerging markets accounted for an overwhelming majority of the global increase
in the commercial value of software theft, Holleyman said.
VNS
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