Should we value IPR?

I don't believe it, but Business Software Alliance (BSA),

which is at the forefront of all IT software related anti-piracy initiatives in

India, insists that as per a recent study done by IDC, software piracy

(calculated on the basis of number of PCs shipped in India versus number of

copies of packaged software shipped) was about 72%. We have always been talking

of a piracy level in the 90% plus range. Till very recently.

Without getting into any debate on these claims, and whether it

includes unbranded PCs and home users too, I will admit that there is a

possibility of more Indian users agreeing to pay for software. Several reasons

for this-as industry matures and as dependence on IT goes up, software starts

to get more critical, hence willingness to spend more on software goes up. And,

hardware prices, which used to be a major inhibitor against users spending on

software, have been coming down drastically. And finally, there are so many

reports of police raids against unlicensed software users, that the heat is

beginning to be felt in many places.

One must understand that piracy is much more than MNCs such as a

Microsoft or an Adobe getting more money from fast growing markets like India

and China. Piracy is about a culture where IP is not respected, and therefore

there is a high reluctance to pay for IP, one form of which is software fee.

Actually IP is all about intellect and talent, and perhaps the only reason which

is helping Indians, Indian software and services companies, and India as a

country make a mark globally is intellect. There is no way India can afford to

not value it, especially as a matter of long term.

While business and mindset changes are happening, the impact is

still quite slow. In the last few months when BSA has actively started promoting

its hotline where anyone could quietly call up and give information about users

of illegal software, it has got only 4 organizations raided, and about 40 more

cases are being actively investigated. At this rate it could 100 years.

However, very interesting findings and many revealing lessons

for CIOs and CEOs, are coming from some of the BSA initiatives. The most pirated

software includes Windows, MS Office, and various anti-virus solutions. Many a

times CIOs start their internal audits not with the operating systems, but with

application packages, assuming that the hardware will most probably have a

licensed copy. This is a wrong assumption and could land the organization as

well as some key people into big trouble.

According to BSA, more that 85% of the informants are either

ex-employees or present employees. Also, it has been seen, that wherever there

is illegal software being used, almost 95 of the machines have illegal software.

A few MNCs and MNC banks are also under investigation, about which there is a

often a general belief that they follow ethical business practices very

faithfully, especially in terms of using licensed software. If you are joining

as a CIO of an MNC bank, please double check if all the software in use is

licensed.

It is all so good to threaten CIOs and give them sermons, but a

stark reality is that the Indian IT industry — hardware as well as software

does not feel very strongly for this issue. Not a single Indian software company

is a member of BSA. This is understandable because most of the Indian software

companies are into services and not products. But one must not forget that now

many of them are making products of their solutions. And more than this, a new

wave of Indian companies are emerging who want to make products and succeed.

Therefore, the Indian software industry must get involved in this.