Piracy Battle
Sri Lanka software pirates beware!
Aug 21, 2008 (LBO) - Business Software Alliance (BSA) has appointed an attorney-at-law to support action against piracy in the software market in Sri Lanka, where nine out of ten programmes are unlicensed.
The BSA, an industry body fighting software piracy and addressing intellectual property rights issues, wants to help government to tackle piracy, Roland Chan, BSA director-marketing Asia said.
It also wants to help raise tax revenue from legitimate software businesses and educate people on using legal programmes as well as promoting policies and practices on technological innovation and IT investment.
Chan said Sri Lanka's Intellectual Property Act of 2003, the Computer Crimes Act of 2007 and the new Companies Act of 2007 provide a strong legal footing to combat software piracy.
BSA has appointed Shalini Ratwatte, attorney-at-law, as the BSA consultant for Sri Lanka to look into implementing and coordinating BSA programmes such as education and support for law enforcement.
Ratwatte has 15 years experience and has been employed at the law firm F J & G De Saram as well as at Asia Capital Group, Environmental Foundation Limited and the Galle Face Hotel Group.
Software piracy in Sri Lanka was rated sixth highest in the world in 2007 where nine out of ten programmes loaded in to a computer in Sri Lanka were unlicensed, research by IDC, a global provider of market intelligence, has shown.
Software piracy in Sri Lanka cost 93 million dollars, according to BSA's research last year. The piracy rate for the Asian region was 59 percent or a loss of 14 billion dollars.
The world wide rate for piracy is lesser at 38 percent or 47 billion dollars, Chan said.
"The BSA anti piracy campaign will make a significant impact on the development of the local software industry in particular and all the creative efforts of Sri Lankans in general," said D.M Karunaratna, director general of the governemnt's Intellectual Property Office (NIPO).
Karunaratna said he feels that Sri Lanka, being among the ten countries with software piracy, will have a better chance to control piracy if companies produce affordable software.
"The software must be at affordable prices, only then can we effectively control software piracy," said Karunaratna.
The authority is discussing with software development companies on releasing affordable software for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka software pirates beware!
Aug 21, 2008 (LBO) - Business Software Alliance (BSA) has appointed an attorney-at-law to support action against piracy in the software market in Sri Lanka, where nine out of ten programmes are unlicensed.
The BSA, an industry body fighting software piracy and addressing intellectual property rights issues, wants to help government to tackle piracy, Roland Chan, BSA director-marketing Asia said.
It also wants to help raise tax revenue from legitimate software businesses and educate people on using legal programmes as well as promoting policies and practices on technological innovation and IT investment.
Chan said Sri Lanka's Intellectual Property Act of 2003, the Computer Crimes Act of 2007 and the new Companies Act of 2007 provide a strong legal footing to combat software piracy.
BSA has appointed Shalini Ratwatte, attorney-at-law, as the BSA consultant for Sri Lanka to look into implementing and coordinating BSA programmes such as education and support for law enforcement.
Ratwatte has 15 years experience and has been employed at the law firm F J & G De Saram as well as at Asia Capital Group, Environmental Foundation Limited and the Galle Face Hotel Group.
Software piracy in Sri Lanka was rated sixth highest in the world in 2007 where nine out of ten programmes loaded in to a computer in Sri Lanka were unlicensed, research by IDC, a global provider of market intelligence, has shown.
Software piracy in Sri Lanka cost 93 million dollars, according to BSA's research last year. The piracy rate for the Asian region was 59 percent or a loss of 14 billion dollars.
The world wide rate for piracy is lesser at 38 percent or 47 billion dollars, Chan said.
"The BSA anti piracy campaign will make a significant impact on the development of the local software industry in particular and all the creative efforts of Sri Lankans in general," said D.M Karunaratna, director general of the governemnt's Intellectual Property Office (NIPO).
Karunaratna said he feels that Sri Lanka, being among the ten countries with software piracy, will have a better chance to control piracy if companies produce affordable software.
"The software must be at affordable prices, only then can we effectively control software piracy," said Karunaratna.
The authority is discussing with software development companies on releasing affordable software for Sri Lanka.
