Microsoft SA says two Gauteng men have been sentenced to fines of R10 000 or six months imprisonment, suspended for four years, in the latest crackdown on software piracy in SA.
The two men pleaded guilty to a charge of dealing in counterfeit software and DVDs at a Boksburg flea market and a video outlet in Knysna.
The SA Federation Against Copyright Theft says the counterfeit products included pre-release film titles, PlayStation games and CD-ROM games with an estimated street value of R160 000.
The case is the latest in a series of prosecutions aimed at curbing software piracy, which is reported to cost the global IT industry billions of dollars a year. The Business Software Alliance reports that in 2000, the Middle East and Africa had the third highest piracy rate in the world, at 55%.
According to the latest East Africa Multi-Client Study from research house BMI-TechKnowledge, East Africa has a particularly high incidence of software piracy, with levels of software piracy estimated at more than 70% across the region.
"According to the IT companies, one of the main reasons for piracy is the lack of education among end-users. The customer does not necessarily know when an offering is from the grey market," explains Mark Walker, analyst at BMI-TechKnowledge.
The grey market frequently offers customers special packages with pre-installed pirated software. The customer is under the mistaken impression that the pre-installed software is legitimate.
Asia is also hard-hit by software piracy, with Microsoft alone estimated to have lost over $4 billion in revenue to software pirates in 2000.
Last week, Adobe Systems threatened to stop supporting Chinese language versions of its software because of persistent pirating of its products in China and other Asian markets. Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen said he was sceptical about Asian efforts to stamp out piracy, claiming that on a recent trip to Beijing, he had paid just $3 for a pirated CD containing his company`s entire software portfolio.
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