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by Budi Putra, Indonesia

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Indonesia's serious fight against piracy

Nov 7, 2006 17:50

Indonesia is seriously fighting against software piracy. The country's efforts to protect intellectual property rights have finally borne fruit, as the US Trade Representative announced an upgrade of the country's status in the fight against piracy yesterday.

As The Jakarta Post reported, the Special 301 review, an annual process conducted by the US Government which assesses the state of protection of intellectual property rights in countries around the world, states that Indonesia has demonstrated solid progress in strengthening its intellectual property regime.

Last year, the Government of Indonesia struck a deal with Microsoft to pay US$1 for each government computer running pirated Microsoft software, according to the BBC. It looks like this deal has been established following a meeting between Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that was held in Seattle at that time.

However, an annual global PC software study released recently by Business Software Alliance (BSA), an international association of the world's leading software developers, showed that 87 percent of the software in Indonesia are pirated.

This is actually not a small business. Software piracy is costing the Indonesian economy billions of dollars each year, a Microsoft representative was quoted as saying in South China Morning Post.

I believe the figures can be reduced gradually since Indonesian computer users have started to use Linux for their software solutions.

However, it's not a comfortable way to enjoy pirated software--it's a steal and unfair, right?

Since the are so many alternatives out there, I am convinced that pirated software users will leave this habit, sooner or later.

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About Budi Putra

Budi Putra is Jakarta-based tech writer and blogger. The journalist-turned-blogger already launched the Indonesia-based blog network, Asia Blogging Network and video blogging site i-teve. He writes gadget posts for SlashPhone, PhoneMag iPhoneBuzz and maintains several blogs including BudiPutra.com and 3GWeek. Follow him via twitter.com/budip