Key players praise software anti-piracy efforts of 2009,
pledge more efforts and success in 2010
BANGKOK, January 14, 2009—It was a year of significant advances for software intellectual property rights in Thailand, with software entrepreneurs throughout the country getting a sense that their software products were gaining some of the necessary protections from piracy.
These sentiments were among the topics of conversation at a recent year-end gathering of key parties involved in efforts to reduce software piracy in Thailand. Members of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) paid visits recently to Thai government officials who play an important role in advancing software anti-piracy measures in Thailand.
“There were so many people within the Thai government who deserve credit for advances made in 2009 against software piracy,” said Varunee Ratchatapattanakul, Consultant, BSA Thailand, who organized recent visits to government officials. “In 2009 we believe that the Thai government made significant headway in not only enforcing intellectual property rights for software developers, but also in creating a mind-set that respecting software intellectual property rights is important for the future of the Thai economy under the “Creative Economy” strategy.”
Thailand has demonstrated a positive turn-around this decade in its approach to software piracy. For the first part of the decade, Thailand’s piracy rate held steady at 80 percent. However, in 2006, with the government and police authorities strengthening structured programs to reduce software piracy, the rate began falling and stood at 76 percent by 2008. Software developers with membership in BSA have given positive feedback on software anti-piracy efforts in Thailand during 2009, and there is a hope that the positive efforts will result in a continued decline in software piracy rates.
Somporn Maneeratanakul, Managing Director of Thai Software Enterprise, is among the Thai software developers most impacted by software piracy. At some IT malls in Thailand, translation products made by Thai Software Enterprises are frequently sold in bundles with other software products.
Mr. Maneeratanakul, a member of the BSA, joined the recent meetings with government officials to express appreciation for their hard work in 2009. He is thankful for efforts to reduce software piracy by DIP and the Economic and Cyber Crime Division police. However, he also believes the business community and public need to reconsider the role they play in software piracy.
“It’s a myth that price is a factor in piracy,” said Mr. Maneeratanakul. “Some of our products sell for as little as 180 baht, yet our dictionary and translation products are still among the most pirated software in Thailand. Our company employs programmers and computer scientists to generate these products and we pay taxes. Lowering our prices is not the answer, because no matter how low we go we cannot compete with free, which is what many people pay when they buy our products bundled with other software products.”
The Economic and Cyber Crime Division police contribute to creating an environment conducive to intellectual property rights by enforcing the Thai Copyright Act. Police officers launched more than 1,000 investigations into software piracy in October of 2009 and say they will continue to press for compliance with the law in 2010.
“We are enforcing the Thai Copyright Act on a daily basis,” said Police Colonel Sarayuth Pooltanya. “Our enforcement efforts against software piracy are continuous and consistent. 2009 was a good year for those who are working to reduce software piracy in Thailand. The DIP, the IP & IT courts and the Economic and Cyber Crime Police Division have all made significant contributions this past year and we fully expect continued cooperation and success in 2010. The momentum is in favor of falling software piracy rates, and it is our job to work together and cooperate to maintain this."
Looking ahead to the start of a new decade, some members of the software community are optimistic about the direction of anti-piracy efforts.
“The software community is appreciative of the government’s efforts to make the business community accountable for legal use of software intellectual property,” said the BSA’s Varunee Ratchatapattanakul. “Obviously, there is much more work to do. But there is no question that Thailand’s software anti-piracy efforts are headed in the right direction.”
About BSA
-BSA (
www.bsa.org) members develop the software, hardware and other technologies that build electronic commerce. BSA members include Adobe, Agilent Technologies, Altium, Apple, Aquafold, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, CNC Software/Mastercam, Corel, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, Embarcadero, Frontline PCB Solutions - An Orbotech Valor Company, McAfee, Microsoft, Mindjet, Minitab, NedGraphics, PTC, Quest Software, Scalable Software, Siemens, Sybase, Symantec, Tekla, and The MathWorks. BSA member in Thailand includes Thai Software Enterprise.
