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 Bandar
Seri Begawan – For the local software industry and ICT business in Brunei
to develop, copyright enforcement must be taken seriously and copyright
property should be respected fully, said President of Microsoft Southeast
Asia, Mr Chris Atkinson.
He added that prices were not the reason for a high rate of
pirated software as studies carried out in some countries in the region
showed people were willing to pay premium prices to get themselves the
original copies for quality.
Mr Atkinson said this in an interview with the Bulletin
during the official launch of Microsoft's new office in Brunei
yesterday.
He said it was up to the local government to enforce software
piracy, adding that for a software giant like Microsoft, piracy would not
only limit investment opportunities here but also prove to be a real loss
for the local software industry.
Piracy is a big challenge not only for Microsoft but also local
software companies in Southeast Asia.
Software piracy not only affects user in terms of low quality but, more
importantly, it would discourage the development of a vibrant local
software industry and other copyrighted industries in general, he said.
"What we have seen historically is that there are governments
who do not really appreciate copyright laws. This is because software is
not like oil or trees or other tangible assets where you can see their
values physically," he said.
Mr Atkinson said Brunei has a lot of potential
as it has one of the highest per capita GDP in the region and a growing number
of sophisticated, technologyliterate populace.
There is a good potential for Brunei
to develop a vibrant local software and ICT industry and he has seen the
passion for technology here, coupled with the belief in education,
entrepreneurial spirit and the commitment to partnership between the
government and people in Brunei.
"These attributes have never been more important than they
are in today's world. We see, hear and read a lot about globalisation,"
he said.
Opportunities from being `connected' (connectivity) such as
through the Internet play a major role in the development of ICT in areas
like e-Government and eEducation. Countries,
which have a high percentage of `connected' people like South Korea and Singapore, are in the fast pace
of Software and ICT development.
Mr Atkinson added that the government plays an important
role through `leading by example'.
He gave an example of Jordan, which has fibre optic networks across schools with the entire
curriculum available online. Parents can access the curriculum online,
share (web) space with their children and see how their children are doing
in school. Most of the homework is also done online where parents can
monitor the progress.
However, he said it was important for Brunei to develop their own
expertise and not depend on foreign experts alone, as in Egypt, where the
government has put in place a very sophisticated e-Government
infrastructure including developing their own experts.
He added that Microsoft could help put up a Brunei e-Government infrastructure like in Egypt.
"Microsoft has worked in partnership with SEAMEO-VOCTECH and
ITB," he said, adding that Brunei is already on the
pathway of a knowledge-based economy, and that Bruneians
are becoming more sophisticated and IT savvy.
However, he stressed the importance of enforcing a tough stand on
the property right law.
"Show me any country in the world which has high respect of
copyright property law that has not yet developed a knowledge-based
economy, and show me any country in the world that has no respect for
copyright property law but has a developed knowledge-based economy,"
he said.
"China,
which was up until four years ago, did not fully respect copyright property
law, is now taking it very seriously and enforcing its own copyright law as
it realises its importance to the local
economy," he added.
He also touched on Indonesia,
which has one of the highest users of pirated copyright material, but has
begun to take a serious stance on the issue after realising
the importance of building a knowledge based economy.
"Microsoft is committed to helping share best practices from
across the region and around the world, promoting ICT across government,
academia and the private sector, and helping to close the digital divide by
increasing access to IT and development of IT skills. Microsoft is
committed to fostering an understanding of, and support for, effective
protection and use of intellectual property, and most importantly,
Microsoft is committed to helping support the development of a vibrant
local software industry in Brunei,"
Mr Atkinson said.
Also present during the launch was Mr
Chan Wan Kong, Country Manager of Microsoft Brunei.
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