Lack of software options contributes to piracy

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/26/2006 1:05 PM  |  Business

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Telematic Software Association president Djarot Subiantoro said Wednesday that a lack of alternative original software had contributed to the high level of software piracy in Indonesia.

""Most of the pirated software products are those intended for the mass market, which can be used by anyone,"" he said, adding that only about 10 percent of software companies developed products for the retail market, while the other 90 percent focused on developing products for corporations and institutions.

""This means that ordinary PC users have few alternatives for getting original software other than that which is already being distributed on the market,"" he said after attending a ceremony to announce the winners of the Imagine Cup 2006 Indonesia Software Design Contest.

Although the government has passed the Antipiracy Law (No. 19 of 2002) and launched raids on vendors of pirated software, Djarot said that this would not be effective in eradicating piracy as long as there were insufficient original software products for consumers.

Therefore, people preferred pirated products, which were cheaper, thus causing the demand for pirated software to remain high.

Djarot was commenting on a study released Tuesday by an anti-software piracy association, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which said software piracy in Indonesia last year remained at the previous year's level of 87 percent, causing potential losses of US$280 million.

The study showed that Indonesia was third among the countries with the highest levels of software piracy in the world, after Vietnam and Zimbabwe, both on 90 percent.

Meanwhile, PT Microsoft Indonesia vice president Ari Kunwidodo said that eradicating piracy would need the involvement of everyone.

Four university students will represent Indonesia in Microsoft Corporation's 4th annual Worldwide Software Design Invitational, Imagine Cup, in India in August.

The Gatotkaca team, consisting of Narenda Wicaksono, Wildan Fakhri and Hardani Maulana from the Bandung Institute of Technology, and Renaldi Prasetia from Padjadjaran University, will travel to India after winning the Imagine Cup 2006 Indonesia Software Design on Wednesday.

In India, the team will present its winning project, called Sigap!, and compete with other students from various countries around the world.

Sigap! guides users in doing cardio exercises by adjusting the beat of their favorite songs to their heartbeats.

As required by the competition, the project showed innovation, effectiveness and broad impact for people wanting to live more healthily, said a software architect with PT Intimedia, Norman Sasono, who was one of the judges in the competition.

Besides getting a free trip to India, the winners also received total cash prizes of Rp 8 million (US$864) and software books from Microsoft. (07)

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