Intellectual Piracy in Malaysia

[masterof_none]

There's a news that says Windows 'Longhorn' cost only less than $2.
Piracy in Malaysia is still rampant.
Let's discuss.




Asian pirates in Microsoft 'coup'

By Jonathan Kent
BBC, Kuala Lumpur
Pirated versions of Microsoft's next generation computer operating system are on sale in Malaysia, more than a year before the official release date.

Copies of the software, codenamed Longhorn, have been found in the southern Malaysian city of Johor Baru costing less than $2.

Software industry sources told the BBC it was the piracy coup of the decade.

The new programme, which is due to supersede Windows XP, is not expected to be officially released before 2005.

Malaysian pirates are among the worlds most audacious. Major Hollywood movies can regularly be found on sale here in disc form long before their international premieres.

But this is possibly the pirates boldest move to date.

Early version

Microsoft is the world's largest computer software company and the unveiling of their next operating system is expected to be their largest software launch of the decade.

A Microsoft spokesman told the BBC they believe pirates obtained one of 8,000 trial copies of Longhorn handed out to programmers at a conference in Los Angeles in October.

The software is still in an early stage of development known as pre-alpha. The company says it would be extremely risky to load the still unstable operating system onto a home computer.

Malaysia is a major centre for intellectual property piracy and the government has been under pressure from Washington to do more to combat the problem.

In May, the Malaysian authorities shut down scores of shops selling pirated films. However those selling illegal copies of computer software seemed to escape more lightly.

The country's domestic trade ministry subsequently announced it was considering bringing down the price of legitimate software by imposing price controls - a move the industry said would lead to major players like Microsoft withdrawing from Malaysia entirely.


from :http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3255120.stm

[__earth]

The answer to piracy - Linux, the open source OS?

[huilinchin]

One good thing is, it promotes Malaysia as a great intellectual property pirate, in parallel with China...haha...jk :D

Actually, I think many people in Malaysia just cannot afford buying the expensive legal softwares at home. So, I would think that it is a blessing in disguise to let and encourage more people to be literate about these stuffs and be aware that it exists and have the opportunity to try it.

Something not related to privacy:
In fact, I am looking forward to all homes in Msia with computers connected to the Internet by an affordable unlimited cable connection 24/7 plan.
It's still too expensive for me to subscribe to cable now.


-Hui Lin ^_^

[jiinjoo]

Great deal of discussion on slashdot for those who're interested in this issue. Open source yes, but M$ knows that if you just cut off piracy and somehow make every piece of Windows out there centrally managed in Redmond, either people are gonna stick to the older version (hey that works... why should I get tied up?) or the gov might outlaw M$ products (coz it is a threat to national security)

Linux, yes, but a LOT more work needs to be done. Linux is fragile and hard to manage. It is not flawless - in fact, it is really a very young piece of software. Only good thing so far is that it has support from a number of companies who dares to venture outside the realm of Unix systems, as well as a large number of "ears" and "eyes" who are constantly watching its back. Red Hat or SuSE is still in no position to challenge M$ hegemony.

M'sia needs something special 8) just like China have Red Flag http://www.redflag-linux.com/, we can probably come up with something too - Red Stripes - then through our standard Belilah Barang Buatan Tempatan promotion, might be able to get people to switch.... :roll:

[masterof_none]

One good thing is, it promotes Malaysia as a great intellectual property pirate, in parallel with China...haha...jk :D

Actually, I think many people in Malaysia just cannot afford buying the expensive legal softwares at home. So, I would think that it is a blessing in disguise to let and encourage more people to be literate about these stuffs and be aware that it exists and have the opportunity to try it.

Something not related to privacy:

I think you refer to piracy.


In fact, I am looking forward to all homes in Msia with computers connected to the Internet by an affordable unlimited cable connection 24/7 plan.
It's still too expensive for me to subscribe to cable now.

This is actually doable. Korea is an example.
But I would suggest that there's it's started from college/universities..
maybe high schools follow suits.
I watched tech tv some time ago that the people responsible connecting all high schools in Calif. were the teachers themselves.
They didn't only hire people to do it, but they're the one who build the clusters.
Amazing stuff.

[Schye]

Asian Pirates Sell Microsoft's Next Windows System
Mon December 1, 2003 07:49 AM ET

JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysia's brazen software pirates are hawking the next version of Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system years before it is supposed to be on sale.
Underscoring the scale of U.S. companies' copyright problems in Asia, CDs containing software Microsoft has code named "Longhorn" are on sale for six ringgit ($1.58) in southern Malaysia. Microsoft's current version of Windows, XP, sells for upwards of $100 in the United States.

The software is an early version of Longhorn demonstrated and distributed at a conference for Microsoft programmers in Los Angeles in October, Microsoft Corporate Attorney Jonathan Selvasegaram told Reuters.

"It's not a ready product," he said from Malaysia. "Even if it works for a while, I think it's very risky," to install on a home computer, he said.

Chairman Bill Gates has said Longhorn, which is not expected to be released before 2005, would rank as Microsoft's largest software launch this decade.

The software is on sale in the largest shopping complex in Johor Bahru, the Malaysian city bordering Singapore, alongside thousands of pirated programs, music CDs and DVDs.

Discs in plastic covers hang from racks in more than a dozen specialized stores in the Holiday Plaza center, even though it has its own police station.

Such piracy is rampant in Asia, although the United States praised Malaysia for seizing thousands of illegal discs since May. U.S. trade losses due to piracy in Malaysia fell to $242 million last year from $316 million in 2001.

Selvasegaram said pirates would shut their shops whenever Malaysian authorities launched a clampdown, only to reopen within days or even hours. He said software companies were working with the authorities on the problem, but the police were more concerned about controlling pornography.

Longhorn promises new methods of storing files, tighter links to the Internet, greater security and fewer annoying reboots, Microsoft has said.

[Schye]

Forgot to state that the news above are taken from the URL below
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=KKAZ1K0N0ZTU2CRBAELCFEY?type=technologyNews&storyID=3915420

I think the main problem is the mind set that we have. We have got used to buy software with just a few ringgits. If you tell you friends that you have bought original software for RM200, I am sure that they will laugh at you.
But when it comes to music CD or games, no one will laugh at you. This is because they think that it worth the price and are proud of it. I have a lot of friends who buy a lot of original music and game CDs but never buy any original software (and I will borrow from them: twisted :). It seems that not many appreciate the value and the efforts put in to create a software product. This maybe because of most of us don?t know about programming and hence don?t know how hard it is to produce a software.

Any idea on how to curb this problem and why are Malaysia not buying original CDs ?(other than what i have stated)

[__earth]

It could be the mindset, like Schye said.
On the contrary, I believe piracy is good for the consumers.
You see, RIAA, MS and all the others have been acting as monopolists and therefore, inefficiency occurs. They charge more and produce less. As a result, deadweight loss to the society is inevitable.
With piracy, you essentially have a competition between the monopolists and, so to speak, the pirates. With those two, competitive outcome will occur (according to Bertrand Model for those of you who understand economics) and in the end, the consumers will benefit.
So, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Piracy is good for us.
As far as I am concern, whether it's illegal or not, as long as it benefits the consumers, let it be, let it be, let it be - at least until MS realizes that it can't compete by changing at P = MR while the pirates are changing at P= MC. In layman term, if there are cheaper substitutes, almost surely the consumers will go for the cheaper ones.

If it is really the mindset, then don't change it. Piracy is good for us economically. If the monopolists think they could push us around, they are dead wrong.

On 24/7 connection, Malaysia has a long way to go. Unlike Korea, the fibre optic backbone is not fully in place yet. For 24/7 connection to be a reality, the ISPs need the infrastructure. To provide the service without the needed infrastructure is possible but the priority must be the placement of fibre optic nationwide.

[littlebigone]

don't know if this is true but I have heard that M$ used piracy as a means of promotion for their early editions of M$ office. By allowing the public to have access to pirated copies, they sort of created a lock-in for the software. Then they charge companies switch to Office simply because their managing people "like" Office and are used to it from use at home.

Maybe.

[wwhong]

why m'sian piracy is so "great"? when there are demands there will always have supply. why m'sian consumer go for pirated stuff? simple. if you can get the same stuff at $5 and $500, which one will u choose? and as our beloved pirated stuff got improved so much in quality, obviously any consumer will go for the pirated stuff. yeah, those programmers always say we should respect their intellectual property and if we want to use it, we have to pay for it but they never thought that they should respect our wallet also. if we can't afford the price and still have to use the software, of course we will go for the pirated stuff. it doesn't matter to me whether the programmer is earning money or not. given the competition nowadays, if they don't want to write program anymore, a lot of people will do it. while we can spend the extra money in other stuff, can we be expected to spend all the money just to support the so called copyright and original? if evreyone is rich then there's a different story.

however, i still support original though. if no original, where do we get the pirated stuff from?? LOL :lol:

[suge]

Anyone bought music online from Apple's Music Store / iTunes? I'm interested to know if the music is really copy-protected and licensed, and if it is, how? Cos I've heard tracks play only on a limited no. of machines and can't be propagated.
iTunes.. still not available in Msia n Germany lah... <laughs>.

[__earth]

don't know if this is true but I have heard that M$ used piracy as a means of promotion for their early editions of M$ office. By allowing the public to have access to pirated copies, they sort of created a lock-in for the software. Then they charge companies switch to Office simply because their managing people "like" Office and are used to it from use at home.

Maybe.

if that is true, the same thing happened to Half Life 2. :)

[littlebigone]

I know someone who got a copy of HL2 which is still in development. It came with development tools and everything....maybe he can help program some of the hacks that will be used later :P

[screw3d]

I know someone who got a copy of HL2 which is still in development. It came with development tools and everything....maybe he can help program some of the hacks that will be used later :P
For that, you'll have a whole gaming community hell bent to kill you.

[screw3d]

Anyone bought music online from Apple's Music Store / iTunes? I'm interested to know if the music is really copy-protected and licensed, and if it is, how? Cos I've heard tracks play only on a limited no. of machines and can't be propagated.
iTunes.. still not available in Msia n Germany lah... <laughs>.
I don't have the details, but iTunes' DRM essentially allows you to burn a song from the same playlist three times, but there is no limit on how many playlists you can create. Quite fair IMO.

There was a tool released just a few weeks ago that cracks iTunes' DRM (or rather a work-around) - released by the same guy who created DeCSS for decrypting DVDs.

When in doubt, google!

[chenchow]

Business Software Alliance just released its statistics on software piracy. Software piracy was at a staggering cost of $50 billion last year. On average, 36% of the software used worldwide is pirated.
In Asia Pacific, 53% of software is pirated, costing $7.55 billion.

Malaysia has a rate of 63% of software pirated, costing $129 million. This is higher compared to HK (52%), Korea (48%), Singapore (43%), Taiwan (43%), Australia (31%), Japan (29%), NZ (23%). In fact, even developed nations like US, has a piracy rate of 22%, Canada 35%, France 45%, Germany 30%, UK 29% etc.

For full report, check out
http://www.bsa.org/globalstudy/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&pageid=16947&hitboxdone=yes

[kennytang]

Malaysia has a rate of 63% of software pirated, costing $129 million.

msia has a piracy rate of 63%?
mmmm...... better than what i have expected...... lol

[zAiTsEv]

Malaysia has a rate of 63% of software pirated, costing $129 million.

msia has a piracy rate of 63%?
mmmm...... better than what i have expected...... lol

i know yours 100% lah. :lol:

[kennytang]

Malaysia has a rate of 63% of software pirated, costing $129 million.

msia has a piracy rate of 63%?
mmmm...... better than what i have expected...... lol

i know yours 100% lah. :lol:

huh? since when there is a country by the name kenny? mm....... my geography knowledge is too superficial...... lol

[zAiTsEv]

huh? since when there is a country by the name kenny? mm....... my geography knowledge is too superficial...... lol

don't act stupid lah. u know what i mean.

[kennytang]

well, u r wrong then
i know u buy original cd for song.
but fyi, i dont buy cd for song, well ori or pirated.
but for others, ahem............... i have no idea
but just be so bold to tell me that u have never bought pirated stuff. living in msia n not buying pirated stuff is a rare case, though i know it happens
lol

[pandaboy]

Piracy in hard copy here in England is very low (cant find anywhere to buy pirated cds or stuffs like that....i guess they dont call pirated cds, they called it cd copies or something like that), guess they are all in laptops and coms...sharing via P2P... :wink:

[digimushu]

...It seems that not many appreciate the value and the efforts put in to create a software product. This maybe because of most of us don?t know about programming and hence don?t know how hard it is to produce a software...


Yupe...it take countless man-hours to debug and program software(read: sleepless nights). Its a pity that malaysians still do not appreciate the work done by programmers. I can't wait till some guy uses pirated software on the onboard computer of his car. *grin*

[DecentMerson]

Piracy in hard copy here in England is very low (cant find anywhere to buy pirated cds or stuffs like that....i guess they dont call pirated cds, they called it cd copies or something like that), guess they are all in laptops and coms...sharing via P2P... :wink:

i'm not sure what they call it in UK... but they call it back-up disc here....

euphemism... haih....


and I think we are missing some parts of the picture too...

On top of software... pc games, console games disc, VCD, DVD, audio CD... there are hell lot of pirated BOOKS out there...

Comics and textbooks in particular....

how about cracking on pirated books too???

[pandaboy]

Talking about movie piracy....I think the Malaysian Censorship Board has frustrated many people....therefore they opted for pirated uncensored copies of VCD/DVDs instead. What say you?

[DecentMerson]

Talking about movie piracy....I think the Malaysian Censorship Board has frustrated many people....therefore they opted for pirated uncensored copies of VCD/DVDs instead. What say you?

well... it's still not a good reason to commit crime rite???

if you allow this reasoning... do you mean that buying pornographic DVD/VCD should be legalized too?

since the Malaysian Censorship Board has frustrated other people too...

[pandaboy]

Talking about movie piracy....I think the Malaysian Censorship Board has frustrated many people....therefore they opted for pirated uncensored copies of VCD/DVDs instead. What say you?

well... it's still not a good reason to commit crime rite???

if you allow this reasoning... do you mean that buying pornographic DVD/VCD should be legalized too?

since the Malaysian Censorship Board has frustrated other people too...

Yup, but I didnt say that Malaysia should legalised piracy. The censorship board is too strict, even a not-so-violent scene will be cut off from a movie...

[Thirdshifter]

When it comes to intellectual properties i'm in the middle. Most of the people who buy Pirated DVDs/Software/Music are people who wouldn't buy any if piracy never existed.

I know i would never spend $600 for photoshop. In a way Piracy do help the popularity of certain softwares. Matter of fact photoshop might not be the industry standard if its not because of Piracy.

Same goes with window. If none was available i'm sure most of us here today would probably be using linux.

[The_forgotten]

i agree...

afterall, pirated stuff exists because there is a great demand for it...

maybe the solution for this problem is that we should just legalize it and impose tax on it??? :D too much of econs 101..haha
________
CX500D (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_CX500D)

[DecentMerson]

i agree...

afterall, pirated stuff exists because there is a great demand for it...

maybe the solution for this problem is that we should just legalize it and impose tax on it??? :D too much of econs 101..haha

wow.... that's dangerous.... what can the software developers earn???

the tax revenue to the government... the Producer surplus goes to the PIRATES...

[Thirdshifter]

i agree...

afterall, pirated stuff exists because there is a great demand for it...

maybe the solution for this problem is that we should just legalize it and impose tax on it??? :D too much of econs 101..haha

wow.... that's dangerous.... what can the software developers earn???

the tax revenue to the government... the Producer surplus goes to the PIRATES...

I don't think legalizing Piracy is legal nor does it make sense. Thats like saying we should let people steal cars and tax the hell out the thief for the car that was stolen.

I'm not condoning piracy but i think there's no effective way of getting rid of it. The only problem i have is, the selling for profit of piracy goods. If I shared an Original Music CD among my friend it should be legal as long as i;m not charging them any fee or maming duplicates and selling them with an intention to gain profit from it.

Petaling street is obviously illegal but file sharing is debatable. Thats how i look at it.

[__earth]

i agree...

afterall, pirated stuff exists because there is a great demand for it...

maybe the solution for this problem is that we should just legalize it and impose tax on it??? :D too much of econs 101..haha

You might have forgotten (no pun intended, sincerely :D ) about externality. that's in econ 101 too.

[The_forgotten]

i agree...

afterall, pirated stuff exists because there is a great demand for it...

maybe the solution for this problem is that we should just legalize it and impose tax on it??? :D too much of econs 101..haha

wow.... that's dangerous.... what can the software developers earn???

the tax revenue to the government... the Producer surplus goes to the PIRATES...

I don't think legalizing Piracy is legal nor does it make sense. Thats like saying we should let people steal cars and tax the hell out the thief for the car that was stolen.

I'm not condoning piracy but i think there's no effective way of getting rid of it. The only problem i have is, the selling for profit of piracy goods. If I shared an Original Music CD among my friend it should be legal as long as i;m not charging them any fee or maming duplicates and selling them with an intention to gain profit from it.

Petaling street is obviously illegal but file sharing is debatable. Thats how i look at it.

Didn't know you guys will take it seriously :D ....anyway, the point that i was intending to put foward is that such problem arises because of the demand for it. such demand for these "inferior goods" will automatically be eliminated when the income of people rises to certain level....i think this explains why the more advanced countries have lower rates of piracy.
________
CBR900RR (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_CBR900RR)

[Thirdshifter]

such demand for these "inferior goods" will automatically be eliminated when the income of people rises to certain level....i think this explains why the more advanced countries have lower rates of piracy.

I tend to doubt that. Look around and you'll relaize that most of the pirated goods originates from Developed countries but is being mass-manufactured in countries where there's no strict law prohibiting it.

For an example, USA is probably where most of the Pirated DVD copies originates from. In bit torrent sites, it clearly shows that most of these copies have English, German, Spanish or French Subtitles. That it self is a proof that piracy is pretty much the same everywhere.

In Malaysia however, the Law is not as strict as these developed countries when it comes to selling Piracy good in public. I was in Petaling street last month and DVDs etc were displayed and nobody seems to have a problem with it.. because there;s no clear cut law about it. Also, It is the knock off version of Coach, Gucci, and many other designer Purse, Bags, and wallets that are popular. The People who ussualy buy them are not local either.. so now, some Petaling street vendors are starting to ebay these items. Many Ebayers, mostly Western europeans and North Americans have no problem paying for this knock-offs.

If it's available people would buy it. Like the old saying. Build it and they will come.

[digimushu]

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/NST32217983.txt/Article/indexb_html


...
Video and Film Industry Association of Malaysia president Loh Kim Wan said that piracy of DVDs had now become more rampant.

"What is even more damaging to the industry is that many of these DVDs are being sold in shopping complexes and they are causing heavy losses to genuine video shop owners."

Recording Industry of Malaysia president Sandy Monteiro said the music industry was also fighting a losing battle against piracy.

"We estimate the losses due to piracy here to be about US$73 million or RM277.4 million last year," he said.
...


It seems that our attacking the VCD peddlers are an exercise in futility. Priated software, VCD and DVDs are still sold in broad daylight regardless of what the government do.

I know the government is trying to prevent this by using law enforcement and the recording industry is using intimidation to scare people into buying original software and music. But it seems to be getting worse. Anyone has any ideas?

[wild_card_my]

don't know if this is true but I have heard that M$ used piracy as a means of promotion for their early editions of M$ office. By allowing the public to have access to pirated copies, they sort of created a lock-in for the software. Then they charge companies switch to Office simply because their managing people "like" Office and are used to it from use at home.

Maybe.

there's always open office to go around.

[__earth]

the one industry where Malaysia is currently outperforming China.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/02/11/news_6118497.html

|\/|414'/514a 0w|\| j00, <h1|\|4

[qedx]

|\/|414'/514a 0w|\| j00, <h1|\|4
shouldn't it be "|\/|414'/514a pw|\|z0rz j00, <h1|\|4", instead? :P

Lets face it, respect for IP is a fairly alien concept in Malaysia.