Indonesian court awards Microsoft US$4.4m

By Nawaz Marican, CNET.com
Wednesday, September 26, 2001 11:55 AM
SINGAPORE--An Indonesian court has ordered a Jakarta-based computer dealer to pay Microsoft Corp US$4.4 million in compensation for copyright infringement and make a public apology.

According to a Microsoft statement, Pro-com was found guilty by the West Jakarta Court of loading unauthorized copies of Microsoft's Windows and Office software onto computers and selling the PCs without the appropriate documentation, license agreements, original disks or manuals.

Microsoft started civil action against Pro-com in February this year after it confirmed that unauthorized software was being sold by the dealer.

"This is a major victory against piracy in Indonesia," Microsoft corporate attorney Huey Tan said in the statement.

"Strong protection of intellectual property is vital to the growth of a knowledge economy. This decision paves the way for copyright owners to establish confidence in a system where innovation is rewarded and intellectual property is respected. Only in such an environment will the local software industry flourish," Tan said.

According to anti-piracy watchdog Business Software Alliance (BSA), the piracy rate in Indonesia is one of the highest in the world at 89 per cent, while the global average is 37 per cent.

Although Microsoft won this battle in the Indonesia capital, its war against software pirates elsewhere is far from over.

On Monday, Singapore.CNET.com reported that fake copies of Windows XP were selling like hot cakes in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Vendors there had been dishing out huge discounts for these versions, some starting as low as US$1.50. Pirated software and bootleg movies usually cost around US$3.

All this despite the Malaysian government's continuing clampdown on copyright infringement and Microsoft's controversial Product Activation feature--a key part of the software giant's crackdown on piracy.

In Singapore, pirated Windows XP versions were found to retail for about US$6.


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