Software piracy in the country has gone down substantially in the past year, from 70 percent to 61 percent, the lowest recorded rate and the highest piracy drop in Asia, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA).
BSA vice president Jeff Hardee told local reporters yesterday that the Philippines now has the second-lowest piracy rate among Southeast Asian nations, next to Singapore with a 50-percent rate.
"This is a significant finding," said Hardee who flew in from Singapore to personally announce the results of the 2000 Global Software Piracy Rate study done by the International Planning and Research Corp. (IPR).
"We believe that with the government continuing in its commitment to fight software piracy in the Philippines, this figure will still go down."
Software piracy is the use of computer software without obtaining the proper license from its maker. It is a disease affecting almost all countries in the world, and the scourge is estimated to have cost software manufacturers almost $11.8 billion in lost revenues last year.
The IPR noted that for the first time in its six years of conducting the annual study, global piracy rate in the year 2000 did not decline. Instead, it went up slightly from 36 percent to 37 percent, thanks to the Asia-Pacific region for registering the highest climb in piracy rate in the past year – from 47 percent in 1999 to 51 percent in 2000.
Among the countries in Asia that saw an increase in piracy rate were Japan (from 31 percent to 37 percent), China (from 91 percent to 94 percent), Indonesia (from 85 percent to 89 percent) and Korea (from 50 percent to 56 percent). These figures meant that a greater number of computers in these countries were sold last year bundled with unlicensed software.
Vietnam, the Asian country with the highest piracy rate, exhibited a slight improvement, dropping its piracy rate from 98 percent to 97 percent.
Hardee pointed out that the drop in software piracy in the Philippines was largely a result of the strong partnership between the BSA and the government in educating the public and going after so-called "software pirates."
Early last year, the BSA launched a 90-day grace campaign aimed at encouraging companies to switch to licensed software. Some 700 companies responded to its call.
Also last year, the BSA raised its reward for those giving information on big-time users of illegal software from P100,000 to P1 million. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which works with the BSA against software piracy, has conducted a number of raids based on the information it received, and most of the raids resulted in the arrest and prosecution of major users and re-sellers of pirated software.
Hardee said that despite the drop in piracy rate, the Philippine software industry continues to lose some P1.3 billion a year in revenues due to illegal software.
He pointed out that legislation, education and enforcement are needed and have inter-related roles in fighting the piracy menace. "It is important not to have any weak links," he stressed. "The BSA is fully committed to work with the government in each of these areas."
The government under the previous and present administration has shown tenacity in facing software piracy head on. The NBI, for once, has been coordinating with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Information Technology and E-Commerce Council (ITECC) in monitoring local companies on the software they are using.
"We hope the government will continue to work with us on this. Though the figures recorded have been very encouraging, a 61-percent piracy rate still means that over six out of 10 software used in new computers in 2000 were illegal copies," Hardee said.
He added that the BSA is planning to further intensify its effort in educating the public on the benefits of using licensed software. "We will be launching a new campaign soon designed to help companies audit and legalize their software," he said without elaborating. Details of the new campaign will be announced next month.