The Hindu Business Line : Pirate watch

The Business Software Alliance (BSA), established in 1988, is an organisation dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. It has been the voice of the world’s commercial software industry before governments and in the international marketplace. It has presence in over 60 countries across the globe and its members represent one of the fastest-growing industries globally.

The Alliance is focused on making the end-user aware of the repercussions of pirated software, through education, awareness campaigns and enforcement of the law. Its Software Asset Management (SAM) programme encourages members to treat software as an asset to the organisation and a vital intellectual property.

In an interview to eWorld, Lizum Mishra, Director of BSA India, dwelt on several issues, including the need to lower software piracy in India from its current level of 71 per cent. Excerpts:

What is the estimated size of the global pirated software industry?

According to the annual study conducted by BSA, global personal computer software piracy was 35 per cent in 2006. It has remained the same for the last three years. However, it is important to note that the losses from piracy have gone up by $5 billion in 2006 from 2005 levels.

How does BSA implement its mandate and how does it equip companies to treat software as an asset?

We have a three-pronged mandate to combat piracy — enforcement, education and actively advocating continuous policy development around the world and working closely with members.

BSA’s member companies formulate critical industry policy positions. Besides, we operate hotlines around the world for callers seeking information about piracy or who wish to report suspected incidents of software piracy. We take action against software resellers and end-user organisations that make unauthorised copies of software and work with law enforcement agencies for enforcement of criminal copyright laws.

We develop and make available information and tools to software users, including resellers, businesses, consumers and students. BSA’s programmes educate decision-makers in organisations on the legal consequences and potentially high cost of illegal software usage as well as online safety issues.

Do you guide/educate companies on software asset management (SAM) as a tool to enhance productivity?

We conduct software asset management seminars to educate enterprises that legal software is an asset and there is a need to manage it well. Through these seminars, weaim to create awareness of how SAM can lead to savings in terms of costs and time and how it can lead to increased productivity.

On the Indian scene…

In India, we are committed to reducing software piracy. According to the latest IDC report, India spent $16.1 billion on information technology products, packaged software and IT services in 2007. That spending accounted for 1.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), supported more than 34,000 IT companies that employ more than 7,66,000 people and helped generate $1.1 billion in IT-related taxes. As the number of PCs and Internet usage grows, software piracy is growing too. BSA believes new technologies should enhance ways to access and distribute copyrighted works legally. Piracy not only deprives software developers of a return on their investment but it also cuts jobs in related businesses, hurts the economy and deprives the consumer of new products.

In addition to our hotline service, we have a team of legal counsels who represent BSA in taking forward civil enforcement actions and sending legal notices to companies that use illegal software.

BSA and its member companies conduct training programmes for the judiciary and law enforcement officers too.

We also conduct an annual global piracy study in association with research body IDC, which helps in understanding how piracy leads to revenue and manpower losses and impacts the world economy.

How responsive are governments globally? What is your experience with India?

Although India does have one of the most stringent copyright laws in the world, there are a lot of tasks that need to be initiated. There is an urgent need to take steps to reduce piracy at a faster pace and BSA would urge the Government of India to increase public education and awareness, implement the WIPO Copyright Treaty, create strong and workable enforcement mechanisms as required by TRIPS and step up enforcement with dedicated resources.

How many member-companies does BSA have in India and what steps have they collectively taken to curb software piracy?

BSA members include companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Dell, EMC, HP, IBM, Intel, Cisco Systems, Corel, Quark, SAP, Solid Works and Symantec and all of them have significant operations and investments in India.

Together with its members, BSA programmes foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade, and e-commerce.

If India’s software piracy rate has been pegged at 71 per cent, what is the global average?

While the average global piracy rate is 35 per cent for software used on PCs, in India it is 71 per cent. In 2004, the piracy rate was 74 per cent, which dropped to 71 per cent in 2006. The global piracy study estimates that a 10 percentage-point drop in piracy in India from 74 per cent to 64 per cent over four years would result in 43,696 new jobs and an addition of $3.1 billion to the GDP.

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