Microsoft and NSW Police claim two scalps in war on piracy
Microsoft and NSW Police claim two scalps in war on piracy
April 10, 2007: NSW Police, with the help of Microsoft, Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) and Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), have conducted a raid on house in Ballina in northern NSW, seizing over 5,000 optical disks on which Windows and Office had been copied.
Two brothers were allegedly producing counterfeit copies of Microsoft Windows and Office software, games and music and reselling them nationwide via the internet.
Ms Vanessa Hutley, Director or Intellectual Property at Microsoft Australia says, “Selling counterfeits via the internet has significantly changed the rules. Operators in a regional town, such as Ballina can now impact honest resellers across Australia.”
After police covertly purchased items from the website, Microsoft and MIPI – a privately owned industry body – conducted an analysis of the materials to confirm its authenticity.
The angle being plied by Microsoft is protection of the reseller.
Says Huntley, “Resellers who offer consumers genuine product and software support are unable to match cut-rate prices offered by pirates and this in turn can result in significant loss of revenue for our partners. Also consumers often get faulty, poor quality products, cannot get support and often loose their money. Every one loses, including Microsoft.”
Estimates given in the press statement by Microsoft state that a reduction in piracy from 32 per cent to 22 per cent by 2009 would generate 9,770 jobs and AU$4.7 billion in contributions to gross domestic product.
In a 2003 study of consumer attitudes towards piracy in the music industry, conducted on behalf of MIPI by Quantum Market Research, found that around 3.6 million Australians illegally burnt a music CD in the 6 month period prior to the research. 40% of the general population said they have at some stage received a burnt CD (69% in the 18-24 age group) and more than 80 % of people who received burnt CDs say that they would 'rarely' or 'never' buy a copy of a burnt CD they had received.
Sabiene Heindl, General Manager of Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) said of the case in Ballina, “There is no doubt internet piracy damages the Australian Music Industry. It’s especially harmful for up and coming artists, songwriters and emerging labels. It’s hard enough for musicians to make a living from their artistic endeavours without adding thieves to the equation.”
A major challenge industry bodies representing not artists, but publishers and studios is convincing people of the moral argument against this type of “theft”. DVD renters familiar with the pre-moviequestions: ‘Would you steal a car? Would you shoplift? Would you steal a handbag?’ would most likely answer “no”. But it would be interesting to know how people respond to the question: “Would you accept an identical copy of someone’s car, if that did not negatively affect their enjoyment of it?”