Pakistan has taken up seriously the growing menace of piracy that has been hurting the productive sectors and causing a loss of Rs 10 billion revenue every year, said Chairman of Anti-counterfeit and Infringement Forum Aamina Saiyed here on Thursday.
Speaking at a workshop, on "Countering software piracy as a social and economic Issue," organised by Microsoft to create awareness, she said that the menace was not confined to a specific sector and appallingly critical medicines used in intensive care were also either pirated or fake.
She deplored that even some government organisation were also involved in piracy, and said a book on Micro electronic circuit of Oxford University Press was being prescribed by all the engineering universities of Pakistan. The interactive workshop was designed for journalists to raise awareness on the role of media in the fight against software piracy, copyright infringement and to highlight the value of genuine software to consumers, businesses and the national economy.
Famous brands lose seven to 20 percent of sales, coupled with huge impact in terms of tax revenue loss to the government as individuals, "it is our responsibility to shed light on such issues, create awareness and initiate steps that would eliminate the economic differences imposed by counterfeit trade and piracy," she said.
Software Manager of Microsoft, Pakistan, Salman Siddiqui, said that software piracy was a problem of the entire world as it caused losses of over 40 billion dollars annually. He said that in Pakistan, the productive sector was bearing the brunt of massive use of pirated and untaxed software. A mere 10 percent decrease in piracy rate could contribute 163 million dollars to the gross domestic product (GDP) and raise 23 million dollars in additional income to the government.
He said that the increased use of legitimate software would also promote a better environment for foreign companies to invest in Pakistan. At the same time, it would also inspire more of entrepreneurship in the information technology (IT) sectors, thereby resulting in higher software exports, he added. He said that piracy was not just an economic issue, rather it was a social phenomenon as artists, writers, and even local small businesses were impacted by it.
He said Pakistan was lagging beyond in the region in terms of IT competitiveness, and according to a study conducted by Business Software Alliance (BSA), Pakistan's ranked at 62 in current IT competitiveness, which placed it behind other comparable economies like India, Bangladesh and Nepal Citizenship Manager at Microsoft Afzaal Mirza said that his company had initiated various programmes in Pakistan to promote IT education in the deprived segments of the society.
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