Philippines may be included in software piracy watchlist

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and America's creative industries have recommended that 55 countries, including the Philippines, be placed in the US government watchlist for alleged rampant intellectual property rights violations.

BSA scored what it described as inadequate level of software copyright protection in nations such as the Philippines, Israel, the Czech Republic, and the Dominican Republic during the annual filing with the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA).

Specifically, the group highlighted significant failures by a number of developing countries to live up to their obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), which became effective on Jan. 1, 2000.

"The widespread proliferation of software piracy continues to plague the industry around the globe, resulting in lost jobs and opportunities in the global marketplace and in individual countries as well. Certainly, the most effective tool available to stem the growth of piracy is the TRIPs agreement," said Robert Holleyman II, president and CEO of BSA.

Holleyman noted that the Philippines has not only seriously failed to comply with its TRIP's obligations but has also come up with a recent legislation eroding the rights of copyright owners in educational settings.

The government, he stressed, does not take into consideration the rights of copyright owners by allowing educational institutions to use illegal copies of software which is in violation of the country's international commitments.

Moreover, Holleyman pointed out that Philippine law does not provide procedures for copyright owners to obtain ex parte searches in civil cases, as required by TRIPs.

More disturbingly, he said, Philippine laws requires that police seeking a search warrant must swear to personal knowledge of the crime being committed.

Such requirement, he pointed out, is nearly impossible to obtain in software piracy cases, where the firsthand knowledge tends to come from private informants such as an employee of the company in question.

"While the piracy rate in the Philippines has gone down from 92 percent to 77 percent over the last four years, copyright violation in the form of software piracy still poses a threat to a developing economy as it inflicts significant damage to the economy, particularly the future development of electronic commerce and the healthy growth of the Philippines software industry," he pointed out.

Holleyman said countries should realize that opportunities will not expand to their fullest potential without strong copyright protection since piracy remains the biggest threat to the growth of the local software industry and its success as a whole.