Piracy crackdown shows progress

In a latest move, inspectors of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST), in cooperation with the  Ministry of Public Security’s High-tech Crime Control Police Bureau in late December, 2012 launched a series of spot checks for computer software copyrights compliance in four major foreign wholly-owned businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces.

The operations found 561 unlicenced copies of software programmes installed in 321 computers, with a total value  of the pirated software estimated at nearly VND4 billion ($185,000).

This is part of the Vietnamese government’s campaign of anti-piracy efforts ranging from education to enforcement.  

Intellectual property rights are receiving more and more attention from both national and international governments in a bid to preserve a sound business environment.

“Compliance with intellectual property rights in the field of computer software in 2012 recorded impressive improvements, with the number of offences and computer dealers in breach of the law by preinstalling unlicenced software on their computers going down,” said the MoCST’s  deputy  chief inspector Pham Xuan Phuc.  

Phuc, however, said software piracy remained a burning issue and would require much stronger efforts from regulators in 2013.  

“In 2013, MoCST inspectors will further strengthen the efforts with audit, monitoring and rigorous penalising of perpetrators, while also stepping up legal education and dissemination to help improve businesses’ awareness and compliance,” said Phuc.

In 2012, MoCST inspectors conducted audits and spot checks at 87 businesses and scrutinised 3,842 computers. Most of the audited businesses were found to commit violations at different levels through the use of computer software without the owners’ consent.

The inspectors imposed the total fine of over VND1.58 billion ($76,000) and asked the perpetrating businesses to buy licences for the software they were using for free.

Most of the businesses agreed and bought software licences for a total value of  VND35 billion ($1.7 million), according to Phuc.