According to the calculation of the Vietnam Association of Information Processing (VAIP), if a person buys the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office software, he will have to spend a very large amount of money but the validity is for only three years. Joining the WTO, Vietnam must carry out its commitments in intellectual property copyright, including computer software copyright. So, what should Vietnam do to quickly address the software piracy rate at a reasonable cost?
Irreversible tendency
At present, the average annual income of a Vietnamese person is some US$700 while the prices for the Windows XP Professional and the Microsoft Office 2003 are above US$300 and US$400, respectively. Additional, a PC to run these software programmes cost around US$700. The financial pressure is the core reason for the rampant purchase and use of pirated software, which is very cheap.
According to the analysis of the VAIP, if Vietnam decides to address Microsoft software piracy, the cost will be enormous. Specifically, Vietnam now has 4-5 million computers in use. And according to Intel’s report, in 2005, this company sold 1.2 million new PCs in the Vietnamese market and if the current growth of 25 per cent is kept, the number of PCs will reach 6 million units in the next five years. This number of PCs will need US$3 billion to install Microsoft copyright software. On the other hands, if the Vietnamese Government bought Microsoft genuine software for its current 2 million civil servants, the cost would be US$1 billion. However, after entering the WTO, Vietnam has to execute its commitments to intellectual property copyright observance. The Microsoft genuine software purchase by the Ministry of Finance, Vietcombank and FPT Corp reflects the tendency of using genuine software.
Whether there is a way that the international commitment is strictly followed but the software cost is acceptable, for example improving the software development capacity of Vietnamese software firms. In 2005, Vietnamese software firms reported combined software export revenues of US$75 million, but if Vietnam spends US$1 billion in the next three years on genuine software, why won’t it use such an amount of money to invest in developing the software industry, to develop software firms and create jobs?
International experience, solution to Vietnam
The international common tech tendency follows the open standard and eliminates the monopoly. The new technology built on the open source platform with open standard is Webservice and Web 2.0 integrated with internet applications to offer free software for users with similar properties to Office. For example, in October 2006, Google provided free online office tools Google Docs at http://docs.google.com. Users can process words online at Google’s website without Microsoft Office Word.. Users can process words online at Google’s website without Microsoft Office Word.
The 50 most popular software applications for PCs are built from open source softwares enabling free download from the internet. Besides, world-leading computer manufacturers like HP, DELL, IBM and ACER haven’t sold computers already installed operation systems but let its customers choose their suitable operating systems and applications. This aimed to eradicate the monopoly and encourage users to use open source softwares. Leading firms like Intel and IBM strongly supported the development of the open source softwares by regularly sponsoring these activities.
The VAIP affirmed Vietnam is obligated to observe its commitments to the WTO, including the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in which the computer software copyright is emphasized. According to the VAIP, Vietnam needs time to implement the commitments and receive technical supports from other countries. Besides, the country needs to raise the recognition and awareness of its people toward economy in the international integration process by using and developing domestic products, using free software like Open Office, open source software and increasingly using open standard applications under the Web 2.0 technology tendency.
In Thailand, for instance, the overthrown Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in November 2002 told the Ministry of Culture, Communication and Technology to prepare an IT popularisation promotion programme for all people. In May 2006, this ministry announced the programme named “People’s PC”. Accordingly, the Thai Government will subsidise computer firms to lower PC prices (some US$458 a laptop and US$256 for a desktop). All computers are installed with Linux TLE Operating System (Thai language version of the Linux Operating System and Open Office software running on Linux platform). After only one month, Thai people bought more than 160,000 computers made by Thai firms. The success of computers using Linux TLE Operating System in Thailand forced Microsoft to lower the prices of both Windows and Office in Thailand to some US$35 while the prices of Windows XP and Office XP are still US$199 and US$399, respectively, on the world market. According to experts, the policy of Thai Government both stimulated consumption and popularised IT to low-income earners, helping reduce software piracy rate.
Learning from the world experience as well as raising the thrift spirit and mastering technologies, the Vietnam IT Steering Committee has gradually introduced open source softwares to apply to the information systems of the Party from the central to the local levels. Several units like Sacombank, d’Institut de la Francophonie pour l’Informatique (IFI), Ho Chi Minh City Posts and Telecom Department and TMA Co. in the country began using Open Office (an open source software) and have obtained good results. Several companies, including HPT Saigon, ISE and Vietkey Linux, have invested in researching and supplying office software services on Open Office - an open source architecture. Some open source software communities, consisting of JavaVietnam, SaigonLux and HanoiLug, have taken part in developing the Vietnamese language version for Open Office 2.0. This shows that the use of the Open Office is increasingly popular in the country. This is an effective solution that many enterprises will choose because the input cost is lower and it is in line with the software copyright regulations.
Nguyen Thoa
Vietnamese
