Anti-fake software agreement signed

By Sturmius Mtweve, The Citizen Reporter

Dar es Salaam. 

The Tanzania Fair Competition Commission (FCC) and Microsoft have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to fight against the high rate of counterfeit software in the region.

“About 85 per cent of software products used in Tanzania and East Africa in general are counterfeit and pirated ones – this means only 15 per cent of the software in the market is genuine,” said the East and Southern Africa Microsoft country manager, Mr Eric Odipo.

The MoU aims at containing the rampant use of unlicensed software that has been causing losses of revenue and piracy on intellectual property (IP) and copyrights in order to support the growth of a viable software system.

Mr Odipo said according to a Business Software Alliance (BSA) report, the software piracy rate in the East and Southern Africa regions is very high in which the commercial value of unlicensed software installed in personal computers in 2011 alone, excluding South Africa, reached $108 million.

He noted that because of the rampant piracy in software, there was a need to develop a continuous programme and campaigns for educating and informing stakeholders and members of the public about the risks and penalties associated with the infringement of software products and trademarks.  

This is the first time the FCC enters into partnership with a soft company to fight against piracy, which has been rampant in many emerging markets especially in Africa, where the majority of consumers are duped into buying pirated software by unscrupulous dealers.   

For his side, the FCC acting director-general, Mr Allan Mlula, said the only way to contain counterfeit business in Tanzania and the region was by refraining from buying counterfeit products because if people continued buying them, it means the problem wouldn’t be solved.

“Innovations, products of research and investments are protected by various legal instruments, such as copyright laws, patent rights, merchandise marks, registration, anti-counterfeit laws, and patent laws – which if education is well provided, will help reduce the rate of pirated products in the market,” said Mr Mlula.

“Nowadays, pirated software is becoming more sophisticated because it comes with embedded products which upon buying, you may risk security, confidentiality and privacy of your information – because the internet has made us all interconnected,” added Mr Odipo.

Source: The Citizen (24/09/2012): http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/business/13-local-business/25995-three-fund-schemes-unit-values-appreciate