May 21, 2012

Vietnam - War against software piracy turning heads on global stage


Vietnam is the best world performer in software piracy reduction. The positive results shown by the decrease in the software piracy rate is testament of great efforts expanded by the government.
- Tarun Sawney Senior director BSA’s Anti-piracy Division in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vietnam is making personal computer software pirates walk the plank. US-based Business Software Alliance (BSA), the leading global advocate for the software industry, last week announced its ninth annual Global Software Piracy Study 2011 in Hanoi.

The study showed that Vietnam recorded a personal computer software piracy rate of 81 per cent in 2011, a two point reduction in two years in a row, compared to 83 per cent in 2010 and 85 per cent in 2009. The commercial value of piracy in 2011 was $395 million, down 4 per cent in value from the previous year’s $412 million.

Vietnam in 2011 ranked 22nd out of 116 national and regional economies surveyed in the study in terms of software piracy.

“Vietnam is the best world performer in software piracy reduction. The positive results shown by the decrease in the software piracy rate is testament of great efforts expanded by the government.

“But admittedly there is still much work to be done and Vietnam faces a stiff challenge in reducing the level of its piracy rate to even the average levels found in the region or the world, at 60 and 42 per cent, respectively. However, I am confident that Vietnam is on the right track,” said Tarun Sawney, senior director BSA’s Anti-piracy Division in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ha Than, chief executive officer of Lac Viet Computing Corporation, said concerted public education and vigorous law enforcement was paying dividends.

“Coming from the local software industry scene where we invest millions of dollars into developing cutting-edge software solutions, we really need all the help from the government to ensure a brighter future for ourselves,” Than said.

According to the study, the global commercial value of pirated software rose from $58.8 billion in 2010 to $63.4 billion in 2011. 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 software pirates in Asia-Pacific were predominantly male, with 32 per cent aged between 18-24.

Thanh Dat | vir.com.vn


Business & Investment Opportunities 
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com

No comments:

Post a Comment