The BSA official cautioned that even with a workforce considered to be among the best in the world, the Philippines might not be able to harness its potentials to become the information technology (IT) hub of Asia because of the continued high incidence of piracy. Kruger explained that software piracy damages the development of electronic commerce and the healthy growth of the Philippines software industry. He pointed out that the Philippine software industry can generate as much as $1.1 billion in economic activity by 2001 if software piracy in the country can be reduced to the 27% rate in the United States.
Kruger, who is on the final leg of his two-day official visit to the Philippines, has discussed the continued and persistent problem of software piracy with top government officials and corporate leaders in several form he has attended during his two-day visit here.
"It is very encouraging that there is a growing awareness in the government and in the private sector on the importance of stamping out the use of illegal software," Kruger said.
A joint study by BSA and SIIA in 1998 pegged Philippine piracy rate at 77 percent, resulting in losses of over P1.24 billion annually. According to reports received by the local BSA hotline, software piracy is most prevalent in the architectural, engineering, services, shipping and manufacturing business sectors although reports have been received on a wide variety of other businesses as well.
Although BSA notes that there has been significant progress made by the Philippine government and the copyright industry to crackdown software piracy at the retail level, there had been little or no impact on piracy within the corporate environment.
"Corporations must do away with the practice of using pirated software as it presents significant economic disadvantages for the organization and the economy as a whole," Kruger said.
BSA together with the National Bureau of Investigation in February conducted its first-ever raid against a corporate end-user resulting in the confiscation of computers illegally uploaded with unlicensed software.
BSA is currently in the middle of its 90-Day Grace Campaign where it is assisting more than 10,000 companies nationwide in auditing software use in their respective organizations. "This is the best time for companies to legalize their software," Kruger said.
Kruger enumerated the disadvantages posed to corporations in using illegal software including a greater potential for the spread of viruses in computers used in a company and higher prices for upgrade, as well as no assurance of quality or reliability, technical support, training manuals, and documentation.
"It also sends the message to employees that it's okay to steal," he added.
BSA envisions the campaign to substantially boost the growth of the information technology IT industry in the Philippines as it underscores the need for corporations to audit their existing set-up with the end view of having them legitimize their software capabilities.
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a member of the National Information Technology Council International Advisory Board in the Philippines and maintains a Memorandum of Understanding with the Philippine Software Association cooperating on a variety of issues. BSA is the voice of the world's leading software developers before governments and with consumers in the international marketplace. Its members represent the fastest growing industry in the world. BSA educates computer users on software copyrights, advocates public policy that fosters innovation and expands trade opportunities, and fights software piracy. BSA members include Adobe, Apple Computer, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, Compaq, Corel Corporation, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Lotus Development, Macromedia, Microsoft, Network Associates, Novell, Sybase, Symantec and Walker Digital. BSA websites: www.bsa.org or www.nopiracy.com. BSA piracy hotlines: 811-5897 (Metro Manila) or 1-800-1-888-8787 (Philippines).
