A developed and protective legal framework is to the software industry what good soil is to a gardener. If it`s rich and nourishing, properly fertilised and watered, tender seedlings will grow sturdy and big. But if the soil is poor and thin, the young shoots will wither and die.
SA, and in particular the government, has not yet really made its mind up about what kind of legal soil it wants for the nascent software industry.
The need and ability to protect intellectual property is at the heart of software development. This protection relies on the people who frame the laws - Parliament - and the people who implement it - the judiciary. Neither one is yet where it needs to be in terms of defining intellectual property, nor in understanding the value of protecting it. As a result, it is very difficult for South African companies to put intellectual property protection mechanisms in place, and even more difficult to have those protections upheld in court.
Our culture is such that the rights of the individual take primacy over the rights of the company. There are well-understood historical reasons for this and I am not for one minute suggesting a return to the dark days of the apartheid secret police. But there is a need to create an environment where the value of intellectual property is understood.
A key area of concern is e-mail. Of course, staff have a right to privacy and ethical boundaries should be maintained at all times. But it must be conceded that a great part of a company`s intellectual property is passed around the e-mail system like nuts at a Christmas party. Business requests and other business information are also passed around the company at the individual level.
To secure intellectual property has to mean gaining control of e-mail. The first step is to design and implement an e-mail policy. At its core should be a requirement for all staff members to log on to the network; by logging on, they acknowledge that any information passing through the infrastructure belongs to the company, regardless of whether this information is business-related or private.
In this way it is possible to at least partially protect company information without invading employees` rights to privacy. It`s also vital to understand the role played in the protection of intellectual property by multinational companies that conduct business in SA. Many of them are very wary and mistrustful - they have a jaundiced view of Africa - and it can often be difficult to persuade them to outsource development work to here. Many will do so only on condition that on completion of development they are given the source code. But this is source code that has been developed with our own resources and by handing it over, the South African software market is being left behind.
A much clearer and more effective stance on intellectual property protection is needed from government before the overseas customers will feel satisfied that this is truly a country in which they can do business securely.
We are all part of the process of preparing the soil, but only the legislators can give us the protection we need. That`s why I believe that only with good law will we be able to make truly great software!
Share
Editorial contacts