Pressure works on NZ pirates

By ADAM GIFFORD and PETER GRIFFIN

The use of pirated software in New Zealand has dropped from 31 per cent in 1999 to 28 per cent last year, according to a global survey by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The decline appears to contradict the software industry's concerns that parallel importing is allowing consumers greater access to pirated software at bargain-basement prices.

The BSA's figures (www.bsa.org) give New Zealand the lowest piracy rate in the Asia-Pacific region, not far behind the United States (24 per cent).

Microsoft New Zealand communications manager Carol Leishman said the decrease was encouraging, but her company would not relax.

"It still means more than one in four programs in use is stolen. There is more organised crime involved and the counterfeits are more sophisticated."

But the falling rate bolsters the argument of those against plans to re-impose a ban on parallel importing.

The National Party lifted the ban three years ago, but its reintroduction featured among Labour's election pledges. The ban was expected to return this year, but the decision was delayed when submissions to the Ministry for Economic Development showed strong opposition to such a move. The announcement will be eagerly anticipated by the music and publishing industries and cinema operators, who blamed a 35 per cent drop in movie attendance last year on parallel-imported videos and DVDs.

Software manufacturers such as Microsoft would also welcome any tightening of parallel-importing laws. It would ease the process of tracking counterfeit products, because software could be imported only through approved channels.

Ms Leishman said Microsoft believed the nature of counterfeiting software had changed and other areas of piracy, such as hard-disk loading, had declined.

"A couple of years ago if you were offered software at a price too good to be true, it probably was.

"Now the counterfeit software is being sold for not much less - if anything - than the real thing and it's hard to tell the difference from the packaging."

The piracy survey, conducted for the BSA by the International Planning and Research Corporation, compares demand for new software applications with the legal supply of such applications.

The corporation estimated the world piracy rate increased to 37 per cent in 2000, the first time it has increased in the six years the surveys have been done.

The increase was mainly due to the rapid rate of technology use in Asia, where many countries have high piracy rates.

The dollar losses to industry through piracy last year were estimated at $US11.75 billion ($28.76 billion), including $US12.3 million in New Zealand.

The BSA said the fact that piracy levels stayed static or declined only slightly in more technologically advanced regions such as North America and Western Europe "suggests a core piracy problem that is more entrenched and, therefore, more difficult to overcome."

Vietnam, where 97 per cent of software is illegal, again topped the piracy index. China was a close second on 94 per cent, up from 91 per cent the previous year. The piracy rate in Australia went up 1 per cent to 33 per cent.

Microsoft New Zealand has aggressively pursued piracy, running sting operations and prosecuting a number of companies for hard-disk loading and selling counterfeit or OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) software.

Ms Leishman said a lot of work remained to be done.

"We believe intellectual property protection is important and we will continue to be vigilant and do what we can to further drive down those rates."