Re: [ossig] can the ossig community help to do something +ve ?

[Imran William Smith <iwsmith@xxxxxxxx>]

The OSS community could do 3 things:

1) publicize to the public that open source is an alternative
2) put pressure on  MDTCA to raise awareness that open source is an 
alternative
3) ultimately, ensure that policies are put in place to achieve (1) and (2)
    on an ongoing basis

So, anybody with a friend (that's most of us, right?) - tell them.
Anybody with a website or blog - mention it.
Number 3 is being worked on - as mentioned at LinuxWorld by
Afrezal from our R&D team,
http://opensource.mimos.my/?main=our_participation/linuxworld
a draft open source policy is to be tabled
to Gov real soon now.  But assuming it is endorsed,
implementation will take some time, so #1 and #2 need individuals
like you+me to work on it first.

Don't leave it up to somebody else.


Imran



nplee wrote:

> http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2004/5/26/technology/8065960&sec=technology 
>
>
> Pirated users have until June 1 to legalise software
> By RASLAN SHARIF
>
> KUALA LUMPUR: Corporate software users have less than a week to ensure 
> their software is legal before the Government kicks off its annual Ops 
> Tulen enforcement campaign on June 1.
>
> The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry will begin its 
> nationwide sweep of infringing companies on that date, after six 
> months of its Tulen Patrol intellectual property protection awareness 
> campaign conducted jointly with antipiracy watchdog Business Software 
> Alliance (BSA).
>
> "We have reached a stage where we believe we have done enough to 
> educate corporate users on the importance of respecting intellectual 
> property," Zainal Abidin Mohd Noordin, the ministry's Deputy 
> Director-General, said on Tuesday.
>
> The Tulen Patrol campaign saw about 14,000 leaflets distributed to 
> companies and business nationwide.
>
> The leaflets sought to educate corporate users on intellectual 
> property rights, and also urged them to audit their computers to 
> ensure that they were using legal software.
>
> Enforcement officers and BSA officials also conducted about 100 visits 
> to business and factory premises to bring home the message.
>
> The BSA said about half of the companies that received the courtesy 
> calls had responded by enquiring on ways to legalise the software they 
> were using.
>
> "After Tulen Patrol, we feel the time to launch an enforcement 
> campaign has come," said Zainal. "There is still time to comply ... 
> they've got another week."
>
> The BSA believes there are still large numbers of companies that have 
> yet to legalise their software.
>
> "We believe it's a pretty high number ... in the thousands, if not 
> tens of thousands," said Tarun Sawney, BSA enforcement director for Asia.
>
> He added that "we have information on who is using illegal software 
> ... there is a lot."
>
> Business software piracy in Malaysia stood at 68% in 2002, according 
> to the latest available figures from the BSA.
>
> The Government has been very active in combating software piracy via 
> campaigns such as Ops Tulen, in an effort to further bring down the 
> piracy rate.
>
> According to the Ministry, about RM1mil of illegal software was 
> seized, 780 businesses raided and over RM300,000 worth of computer 
> equipment seized in various enforcement campaigns since October 2002.
>
> Zainal said there were about 10 cases of software copyright 
> infringement in court currently, with seven more "in the process."
>
> Despite active enforcement efforts, corporate software piracy has 
> shown stubborn resistance. The Government and BSA said they were 
> trying to tackle the problem by conducting more comprehensive and 
> extensive awareness campaigns like Tulen Patrol, hand in hand with 
> enforcement.
>
> Foreign copyright owners are beginning to show signs of frustration. 
> On Monday, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie 
> Apdal warned that Malaysia risked being blacklisted by the World Trade 
> Organisation if piracy was left unchecked.
>
> Zainal denied that the June 1 Ops Tulen campaign was related to that 
> possibility.
>
> "We are not taking action because of it, but as part of our ongoing 
> and active enforcement of intellectual property rights," he said.
>
> Parliament passed an amendment to the Copyright Act last October, 
> which put in place a RM2,000 minimum fine for each infringing copy.
>
> Companies found guilty could be fined up to RM10,000 for each copy, 
> while company directors could be fined the same, or jailed up to five 
> years, or both.
>
> While the penalties for software piracy are stiff, no company or 
> company director has received the maximum penalty, which BSA said 
> might effectively deter others from flouting the law.
>
> "The laws are there," said Tarun. "You could say that five years in 
> jail would be a deterrent sentence."
>
>        
>
>
>


-- 
Imran William Smith,
Open Source R&D, MIMOS Berhad, Malaysia




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