More than eight years ago when the software ownership audit campaign was launched by the Vietnam Government, the concept of software ownership was perhaps new to many local businesses. Eight years later, respect for software copyright among the business community has significantly changed, albeit there is still distance between awareness and compliance. That said, it is now time software ownership is no longer a question of ‘awareness’ but should be the ‘precondition’ for companies to export their products to overseas partners.
According to the Competition Administration under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, from August 1, a number of states in the US will start adopting an intellectual property rights infringement act applied to the information technology domain on imported goods in the US that are in breach of copyright. Under this act, products from companies involved in ownership infringement will not be allowed to enter the US market. Ownership infringement will be screened in phases spanning production, distribution, advertisement and sales. Even manufacturing companies in the fields of textile, footwear, plastic, furniture, and others, that use computers installed with unlicensed software for use in production and business, will have their finished products deemed in breach of copyright and barred from export to the US. The legislation explicitly states that any US importing companies must ask foreign sellers to send along a guarantee letter promising non-infringement of copyright. In case the selling party commits any ownership infraction, the US buyer will be entitled to unilaterally terminate the import contract without being considered in breach of contract.
This act will leave companies in Vietnam that want long-term business with partners in the US no choice but to strictly comply with software intellectual property rights regulations and not install illegally copied software in the computers they use for business purposes.
In a recent raid in export-processing and industrial zones, the inspectors of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the Hi-tech Crime Police Bureau, Ministry of Public Security, uncovered extensive use of illegal computer software at a Singaporean foreign-owned company located in Tan Tao IP, Ho Chi Minh City. Among the 31 inspected computers, apart from some licensed software, the multidisciplinary task force found a wide range of illicitly duplicated software programs, the like of AutoCAD, LacViet MTD 2002, Acrobat, Corel Draw, Windows XP and Windows Office.
As informed by the task force, in the near future, the inter-ministerial inspectors will direct their attention to manufacturing companies in industrial and export-processing zones. Mr Vu Xuan Thanh, Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, further disclosed: “The Vietnam Government is committed to the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), including software ownership. As a result, as part of a sustained campaign to combat software ownership infringement, in 2011, we will step up audit and inspection efforts on a regular basis for compliance to software ownership laws and regulations by companies. Any illegal use of software products by businesses may constitute criminal behaviour which is subject to rigorous legal acts.”
In a nutshell, software ownership infringement now not only leaves the perpetrators facing local law enforcement agencies, but more importantly, exporters to the US market will risk going out of business if they are found in breach of the copyright act.
The act also rings an alarm bell for companies in Vietnam that more respect should be given to intellectual property rights. In an increasingly integrated global economy, intellectual property rights are not only protected by the Vietnamese government, but companies in Vietnam will not be able to enter the international market without a proven commitment to respect copyrights.
Nam Pham
Vietnamese
