Curbing software piracy in eastern India

KOLKATA: In an endeavor to curb the menace of software piracy, Computer

Association of Eastern India (COMPASS) has extended its support and help to the

efforts of Nasscom and Business Software Alliance (BSA). The initiative has been

taken alongside software vendors of the region and associations concerned.

Seminars are being organized and circulars issued to members in particular to

spread awareness among end users and vendors of assembled systems of the dangers

of software piracy. The biggest offender of software piracy is the home segment

where pirated software in use is as high as 80 per cent. COMPASS president

Mahesh Shah said, " The widespread menace is attributed to lack of

awareness on the part of end users about the problem and its consequences. The

exorbitant cost of legal software is another reason for usage in this manner in

both homes and small offices. " COMPASS has been urging software

manufacturers to reduce prices and make them affordable in third world

countries.

Nasscom and BSA have recently launched a nationwide campaign against the use

of pirated software in India. The two have been issuing advertisements warning

end users against use of illegal software and organized raids on resellers.

Users of pirated software if caught would have to pay a penalty of upto Rs 2

lakh, face legal complications and undergo immense humiliation.

Several COMPASS members said that the most common form of piracy are copies

being made by corporates and training institutes where as a common practice a

single copy is replicated for extensive in-house usage. COMPASS will soon launch

a campaign prohibiting corporates from continuing their practices and urge them

to buy legal software. In recognition of the efforts undertaken by COMPASS and

increased sale of genuine software Microsoft rewarded 40 resellers in Eastern

India. The new Microsoft Office version, Office XP, has a feature that disables

multiple copies and allows only permitted number of installations.

According to a study conducted by Nasscom companies' losses due to software

piracy amounted to Rs 900 crore in India between 1999-2000. BSA however

estimates the losses to be more than Rs. 1126 crore for 2000 alone. However the

survey also shows that there has been almost a 30 percent decline in piracy

rates between 1995 and 1999 in the country.

As compared to countries like Vietnam (97 per cent) and China (94 per cent),

India figures below the top 25 enlisted countries. The declining trends in

pirated software usage are a positive indication for an increasing usage of

genuine software in the country.