SIKAP TULEN IT MALL CAMPAIGN: MDTCA LAUNCHES ANTI-PIRACY CAMPAIGN TO STAMP OUT SALE OF COUNTERFEIT SOFTWARE IN IT MALLS & STORES NATIONWIDE

Industry Big-Wigs BSA, Plaza Low Yat and Microsoft Malaysia Show Support towards the Call for a Piracy-Free Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, October 23, 2008 – In the on-going campaign against software piracy in Malaysia, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) today launched the Sikap Tulen IT Mall Campaign, giving greater emphasis towards stamping out software piracy in IT Malls and IT stores in shopping complexes nationwide, with support from industry players like the Business Software Alliance (BSA), Plaza Low Yat and Microsoft Malaysia.

As part of the six components of the larger Sikap Tulen campaign, the Sikap Tulen IT Mall initiative aims to ensure piracy-free zones in IT Malls and stores, addressing the awareness and enforcement aspects of respecting IP rights by essentially cultivating a “genuine attitude” in buying and selling, where consumers adopt a buy-genuine attitude and retailers actively choose to sell original software to users at large. As a result, the campaign also intends to ensure consumers get a “genuine experience” in their software purchases without the worry of being victimised by piracy. Officiating the event, Daud Bin Tahar, Deputy Secretary General (Domestic Trade), MDTCA commended Plaza Low Yat, Microsoft Malaysia and BSA for taking the initiative to support the extension of the Sikap Tulen campaign.

Daud said, “Nobody likes to be cheated by the purchase of sub-standard products. Imagine after having paid thousands of ringgit for a computer, you discover that it doesn’t work properly because the dealer did not bother to sell you genuine software that is compatible with your computer. Don’t you think all the hassle could have been avoided if the dealer had advised you accordingly to also budget for genuine software?”

According to Daud, Sikap Tulen IT Mall is about: 1) creating the best possible environment for the buying and selling of genuine IT products, be it hardware or software, 2) being honest with customers and advising them accordingly, and 3) delivering a top notch customer experience in order to build a lasting relationship with them.

Speaking on behalf of the BSA, Chair of the Malaysia Committee, Roland Chua, said, “The joint efforts by the MDTCA and the BSA have continued to bear fruit as proven by the lower piracy rate recorded by Malaysia which was reported in the Annual BSA/IDC Global Software Piracy Study in May 2008.”

Chua confirmed that since the introduction of Ops Tulen in 2002, and subsequently Sikap Tulen in 2007, PC software piracy in Malaysia now stands at its lowest ever at 59 percent.

Chua said, “In spite of these improvements, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels as we still have much work ahead of us. In a recent study on the IT competitiveness of 66 economies around the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the study placed Malaysia as the 36th most competitive country on the list. As a country that is gearing up for developed nation status, we simply have to do much better – there’s no two ways about it. Add to that the economic challenges that exists globally today, it is now imperative for us to improve on our country’s overall business environment, IT infrastructure, human capital, legal environment, R&D environment, and support for IT industry development.”

As a marked evidence of support in Malaysia’s anti-piracy efforts, Plaza Low Yat has committed to being the first IT Mall in Malaysia to actively and openly jump on the Sikap Tulen IT Mall bandwagon, taking measures to curb the sale of counterfeit software by closely monitoring the movements of its mall tenants. Patrick Honan, Area Manager, Plaza Low Yat and Low Yat City commented that though in the past Plaza Low Yat has been viewed as a place where unlicensed and pirated software may have been available for purchase, in effect, the mall is and has been an active promoter of using genuine software. He said, “Software piracy remains an issue that we have been actively and seriously campaigning against; the severity of which is written in our tenancy agreement whereby retailers who knowingly sell counterfeit software may face a review of their tenancy contract as well as being prevented in taking up future promotional space. That is how committed we are in this fight.”

Microsoft Corporation’s Associate General Counsel for Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting, David Finn, remarked, “MDTCA’s approach in focusing anti-counterfeit efforts on IT Malls and IT stores in shopping complexes will take the anti-piracy campaign to the next level and curb the issue at the root of the matter. This campaign acknowledges that property managers have an important role to play in ensuring their tenants do not engage in infringing activities and Plaza Low Yat will set a benchmark for other property managers to follow. This campaign will afford a win-win situation for all - genuine products ensure users enjoy a rich and complete computing experience with total confidence and peace of mind; software developers have the freedom to innovate solutions without the risk of piracy thereby creating a robust and lucrative software ecosystem that ultimately contributes to growing the Malaysian economy.”

To mark the launch of this campaign, Microsoft Malaysia together with MDTCA and BSA, rewarded 5 retailers – Bess Computer Sdn Bhd, Viewnet Computer Systems Sdn Bhd, Sri Computers Sdn Bhd, IT One Superstore Sdn Bhd - in Plaza Low Yat with the ‘Honest Resellers’ Award, acknowledging their efforts in ensuring the sale of genuine software to customers.

“We applaud the honesty of these retailers in playing an active role against piracy and hope that more businesses, consumers, IT vendors and all involved in the ICT ecosystem will take heed and continue to support the government’s aspiration to reduce software piracy in Malaysia,” concluded the Deputy Secretary General (Domestic Trade) of MDTCA.

Anti-Piracy Efforts Also Give Back to Society
In conjunction with the Sikap Tulen IT Mall campaign launch, Microsoft Malaysia also donated 50 computers to Yayasan Salam Malaysia (YSM), a donation made possible through Microsoft’s “dealer test purchase program”, an on-going initiative where computers are purchased on-the-spot from retailers to ensure sale of genuine software products with hardware purchases.

Ghani Ibrahim, Executive Director of Yayasan Salam Malaysia said, “The benefits of this anti-piracy program does not end with the customers, it is also being passed on to the community at large and our social audience will also be able to gain further access to technology with more resources being made available for their usage.”