Monday, June 2, 2003		Feature

Judgement deters software pirates
Gaurav Kumar

EVERY year software piracy worth billions, which takes place in India, causes huge loss to IT. Even the giants in this field have been watching helplessly as their copyrights and trademarks are being ripped off blatantly. The Information Technology Act has also not been able to put any control on it. Under such conditions, a judgement of a Hyderabad court sentencing three persons to six-months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000 for unauthorised copying and sale of pirated software can certainly be considered landmark.

For the first time in India, Hyderabad based Prabhu Dayal and Shambhunath Jha of Big Apple Computers and Anup Kumar of Anuj Computers, have been indicted for infringing software copyright and indulging in unauthorised copying and sale of software.

The accused had been found guilty under Section 63 of the Copyright Act and Sections 78 and 79 of the Trademarks Act. This judgement marks a threshold for campaign on software piracy and will go a long way in reiterating the respect for intellectual property rights.

Based on the evidence gathered from investigations by four of Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Nasscom member companies, including Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk and Tata Consultancy Services, complaints were filed against two dealers in April 1999.

Acting on them, the police raided the premises of Big Apple Computers and Anuj Computers, and seized CDs and PCs containing unlicensed versions of software. The owners of these business entities were arrested after the raids.

Software piracy is a serious impediment to the Indian IT industry’s economy. This judgement is a signal for those involved in piracy. Selling pirated software is illegal and may, at best, lead to a very short-term business growth.

It is believed if the current 54 per cent software piracy plaguing Asia, is reduced by just 10 per cent, it can create 1.1 million new jobs and raise economic growth by $ 170 billion and generate $ 15 billion in tax revenues. Considering that 40 per cent of software sold in 2001 were pirated, it becomes clear how this is a problem that needs to be addressed on war footing.