Bait to trap software pirates

Monetary rewards appear to be the best way of tackling software piracy.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA)has launched campaigns inviting people to report piracy within companies and get monetary rewards of up to Rs 5 lakh.

BSA, an anti-piracy initiative in collaboration with Nasscom in India, recently conducted 200 raids being in response to the over 150 leads it received through its hotlines and website since 2006, seizing software worth around $2.1 million (little over Rs 8 crore).

It estimates that over 85 per cent of the informants are current or ex-employees. However, it's not ready to reveal the actual number of people who have received the rewards.

Sanjay Gupta, Chairman BSA India Committee, says: "BSA programs are directed towards creating awareness about not only the rampancy of piracy but also the significant risks and perils of piracy in the country and those caught can be punished in accordance with the laws. We are encouraging people to speak up and be a part of the anti-piracy drive. We all need to do more, since the piracy levels in countries like China and Russia are dropping faster than in India."

A study conducted by BSA estimates that a 10-point drop in piracy in India from 74-64 per cent over four years would add 115,847 jobs, $5.9 billion in contribution to India's GDP, $386 million in taxes and $5.2 billion in revenues to local vendors.

Hence the alliance is pushing the panic button for all the parties concerned, with most of the major global IT companies extending their support.

With the IT-ITes industry projected to grow to $60-75 billion in the next three years, such forms of checking the piracy bug could act as a catalyst towards achieving such a figure.

The number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, has decreased over the last three years "� from 180 in December 2004 to 135 in December 2006, prompting the regulator to systematically rid itself of ISPs that "do not deliver". 
 

INDIAN ISP SCENARIO
Parameters	Unit	Dec  04	Dec 05	Dec 06
No. of ISPs in operation		180.00	163.00	135.00
Market share of  PSU ISPs	%	48.00	58.00	63.74
Market share of  ISPs	%	52.00	42.00	36.26
Total no. of Internet subs	mn	5.45	6.70	8.58
Total no. of Broadband sub	mn	0.05	0.91	2.10
Revenue of all ISPs (Sep-Dec 06)	Rs.cr	255.00	424.00	798.00
Monthly ARPU  (Sep-Dec 06)	Rs.	167.00	210.00	205.00

Of the 135 licensees 40, 54 and 41 belong to Category 'A' (national), Category 'B' (state) and Category 'C' (district) respectively. TRAI recommends that 'C' category (smaller district-level) ISPs should upgrade or shut shop. This means rural penetration will not happen in a hurry since the top 20 ISPs that corner 98 per cent of subscribers, cater to urbanites.

Incidentally, the market share of public sector units (PSUs) has risen steadily over the last 3 years "� from 48 per cent in December 2004 to 63.74 per cent in December 2006. Of this, BSNL accounts for 44.42 per cent while MTNL holds a 19.32 per cent market share as on December 2006. These two PSUs have a significant presence in broadband connections, implying that high-speed Internet access sells.