Two for Rs 1,000!

Windows XP in a double-CD set is normally yours for Rs 70, but can cost Rs

100 if you are wearing a pair of jeans, Rs 500 if you are seen stepping out of

an expensive car, Rs 1,000 if you look like you can and will pay up, and even Rs

2,000, if you look new to the process of buying pirated software. "We were

selling Windows XP days before it was launched in India. And yes, it did come

with clip-arts and all other hot features," a confident voice informs us in

Nehru Place. "Even now, we can supply software before it comes to

India," the voice adds.

Nehru Place is the hot-bed of pirated software. You will find dealers–some

50 in all–in various assorted tables strewn around the place. There are

perfectly legitimate CDs on display–usually Windows tutorials by Indian

companies. But other brands and programs are available too–ask for Adobe

Photoshop and it materializes instantly, almost out of the blue. Somebody will

even pull out a tucked-up shirt and fish out the CD from within his clothes, and

you can catch a glimpse of an assortment of other CDs tucked away where this one

came from.

The software sold here even comes with a warranty...well, of sorts.

"Bring it back if there are installation problems. We’ll refund your

money or exchange the CD." Name a software and they have it. Ditto for game

CDs, MP3s to some extent, and pirated VCDs to a lesser extent. "If a

particular title is not available, we will get it for you," says another

dealer.

With the industry going through a not-so-bright patch, how have sales been?

"We don’t think there’s been any bad phase. We don’t know statistics,

but during the summer vacations, you should have seen the number of cars lined

up. We had huge sales," says one. "Surveys will, of course, not

reflect the exact figures. Go around and ask the dealers…," piped up

another.

Selling prices are not fixed, and vary from customer to customer. There’s a

flat rate of Rs 100 per CD, irrespective of software content, for those used to

buying software from around here, and thus knowing what benchmark to bargain

for. Operating systems are the best grossers, with Windows ’98 topping the

list. As is understood, software used by the home segment or SMEs is available

more readily. A Lotus SmartSuite might be available, but will take more time to

purchase, because it will cost more.

Each individual dealer (the author spoke to 15 such) sells eight to ten CDs a

day on an average–translating into a neat profit of Rs 7,000-8,000 at the end

of the month. Multiply that with the number of dealers on the prowl, and profits

are in the range of Rs 400,000 and that is a conservative estimate.

The Grey, in Black and White Dealers offer a quasi ‘money-back warranty’ for pirated software They also promise to ‘source’ particular titles of CDs/VCDs/MP3s as per customer requirements Windows ’98 remains the ‘hottest’ item on the grey market menu

But the piracy picture is all but rosy. "There are frequent raids, at

least once a month. The policewallahs are all in the know. They take Rs 1,000

from us on a monthly basis. In fact, they make Rs 1 lakh on an average from

Nehru Place. Have you ever seen the cars they drive or the mobiles they carry?

Tell me, how can they afford to do so on the government salary they get,"

questions a dealer.

Another aspect is that while petty dealers manning the desks are put behind

bars or harassed, those who really run these operations get away scot-free.

Those who man the desks do so in return for a salary ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs

4,000.

A dealer not willing to be named revealed that the police recently arrested a

dealer, who was subsequently let off on a bail bond of Rs 2,00,000, apart from a

security of Rs 5,00,000. "The boss paid for this. The boss looks after us

as if we are family. But the police did not even question the antecedents of the

person who made bail. They could have back-tracked us, but didn’t. I can

guarantee there’ll be another raid soon–and at least one of us will be

caught. But it will be business as usual soon after."

Also needed to be understood is that it is the economic imbalance prevalent

in India that leads to piracy. The present scenario is such that for the average

user, it seems to be the only option out. Consider this–a design consultant

can expect to earn, on an average, between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 6 lakh every year.

If he wants to go in for a bouquet of legal software, Photoshop, Corel, Freehand

etc, these will cost him around Rs 4 lakh. The wannabe designer, therefore, has

two options–one, he buys only that legal software which he can afford–worth

some Rs 30,000–and do without the rest, affecting his business and earnings.

The second option–he picks up pirated stuff which costs him around Rs 1,000,

and gets on with his work, armed to the bone.

Pirated software is bad news for the companies that make them, right? Yes,

but they themselves have been responsible for creating tha malaise. Some of the

companies that are members of the BSA now had at one stage encouraged the use of

free software to ensure market penetration. If we look at the Asia-Pacific

market, a major reason why the Microsofts and Adobes made strong inroads into

China and Singapore was because pirated versions had already gone a great way in

increasing awareness. We can compare this with publishing houses distributing

copies of bestsellers to public libraries. But in the case of software, a

multi-user syndrome can be ruled out.

Again, at least a percentage of people buying pirated software would at some

stage go in for a legal version of the same, if only for tax reasons. They might

make five copies of the same later and use it in five different workstations,

but for a software company, this becomes a classic case of half a loaf being

better than none. Also, in a developing country like India, it is pirated

software that has helped ramp up PC penetration–how many of the local

cybercafes run on legal software–and helped bridge the much-talked-about

digital divide. This, in a backhanded way, is good news for companies. Going by

the simple rule of statistics, as the number of users increases and people

become aware of the de-merits of using pirated software, the sale of legal

software will also pick up. This will lead to a fall in the level of piracy in

India, which will settle down to an acceptable 15-20%, rather than the 75%-plus

levels it stands at today. Till then, its business as usual at Nehru Place.

Sudarshana Banerjee/CNS in New Delhi