Illegal software costs companies Sh13 billion
Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo) acting executive director Edward Sigei (left) and Microsoft Country Manager Kunle Awosike in Nairobi on April 6, 2016 during the launch of a software legalisation program in Kenya. According to Kecobo, Software firms in Kenya have cumulatively lost Sh12.8 billion from illegal and unlicensed systems installations, highlighting the monumental challenge piracy poses to technology companies. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Software firms in Kenya have cumulatively lost Sh12.8 billion from illegal and unlicensed systems installations, highlighting the monumental challenge piracy poses to technology companies.
- This is according to the Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo), which says software theft stands at 78 per cent.
- To curb the vice and encourage uptake of genuine software, Kecobo has partnered with technology giant Microsoft in a month-long amnesty for individuals, small and medium enterprises and corporations using non-genuine systems to allow them to conform.
Software firms in Kenya have cumulatively lost Sh12.8 billion from illegal and unlicensed systems installations, highlighting the monumental challenge piracy poses to technology companies.
This is according to the Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo), which says software theft stands at 78 per cent.
“Software piracy is increasingly stifling economic growth in Kenya today. The rampant use of non-genuine software is denying the country an opportunity to derive gains from licensed software, which has shown greater returns on investment elsewhere in the world,” the board’s acting chief executive Edward Sigei told the Nation.
Mr Sigei spoke in Nairobi on Wednesday when the State-backed compliance agency launched a new drive to clamp down on illegal installations.
He cited a recent survey by BSA Global Software, an industry trade group that represents many software vendors, which he said, shows that 43 per cent of the software installed on PCs around the world is unlicensed.
The study, he said, found that increasing the amount of properly licensed software use globally by 1 per cent would inject an estimated Sh7.3 trillion ($73 billion) into the world economy, compared to the Sh2 trillion generated with use of pirated software.
EMERGING MARKETS
It is estimated that emerging markets account for 56 per cent of all personal computers in use globally and nearly three quarters of all unlicensed software installations.
To curb the vice and encourage uptake of genuine software, Kecobo has partnered with technology giant Microsoft in a month-long amnesty for individuals, small and medium enterprises and corporations using non-genuine systems to allow them to conform.
During the period, Microsoft has undertaken to drive consumer awareness campaigns around the purchase and use of genuine software.
The copyright agency will, meanwhile, arrest and prosecute those who will be found to infringe the copyright law after the expiry of the period.
Lack of awareness, which makes Kenyans assume they cannot afford genuine software, coupled with weak laws and poor enforcement, has affected the war against illegal installations.
