13/01/2013
By Jorge Sukarie, President of ABES
2013 was a very fruitful year for ABES (Brazilian Association of Software Companies) with regard to the Defense of Intellectual Property. At the beginning of the year, the committee of the entity that takes care of the protection of intellectual property, through actions that encourage the use of licensed software, launched the Legal Entrepreneur initiative, which was recognized in November by the CNCP (National Council to Combat Piracy) with the National Prize for Combating Piracy, in the Economic Axis category.
The initiative aims to raise the awareness of Brazilian businessmen and executives to the problem of unfair competition that involves any type of illegal advantage to reduce operating costs or increase profit margins, such as the use of pirated software.
For this action, the portal was created www.empreendedorlegal.org.br with information on Brazilian and international laws against Unfair Competition and Defense of Intellectual Property; about technical risks and recommendations on how entrepreneurs can bring their software assets into compliance with current legislation.
This portal has a link to access the Anonymous Complaints Against Software Piracy website. www.denunciepirataria.org.br, released in November 2012. The complaints received have strengthened the investigative work of police authorities across the country to identify sources of piracy.
With the help of the Complaints Portal and the society active in this fight, it was also possible to seize, in 2013, thousands of pirated media, including software and serials for activating computer programs. More than 150 IT resellers, located in the South, Southeast and Midwest regions, were approached by local authorities.
Together with Empreendedor Legal, we seek to promote educational activities with support for events, partnerships with local entities and the offer of software for ABES members under special conditions. Recently, this campaign was reinforced with the support of Sebrae (Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises). Together, the two entities have as their main objective to show small businesses the importance of using original software to ensure the organic growth of their ventures.
In this campaign, we also count on the essential partnership of government and industry entities: ABPI – Brazilian Intellectual Property Association; APEX – Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency; BSA – The Software Alliance; CNC – National Confederation of Commerce; CNCP – National Council to Combat Piracy; ETCO – Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics and MBC – Movimento Brasil Competitivo.
Disrespect for property rights seriously undermines the principle of legality and economic growth, as well as the development of innovative technologies. It also creates an unfair market in which honest companies are unable to compete.
According to BSA – The Software Alliance, the financial impact of this type of business generates losses of approximately US$ 2.848 billion for the software industry. If software piracy in Brazil, which currently stands at 53%, were reduced by 10 percentage points over the next four years, more than 12,300 jobs would be created and more than US$ 4 billion dollars would be returned to the Brazilian economy.
In the 1980s, these numbers were already much higher, with the software piracy rate reaching 92%. Actions such as the Legal Entrepreneur initiative supported by the entity over the years contributed to a greater awareness of consumers and, consequently, to a noticeable decrease in this index.
With the continuity of clarification initiatives such as Empreendedor Legal; the new means of selling software, such as SaaS (Software as a Service); the increase in the purchasing power of the population; in addition to the support of government authorities, software piracy in the country should continue to decrease in the coming years, making Brazil more competitive.
The initiative aims to raise the awareness of Brazilian businessmen and executives to the problem of unfair competition that involves any type of illegal advantage to reduce operating costs or increase profit margins, such as the use of pirated software.
For this action, the portal was created www.empreendedorlegal.org.br with information on Brazilian and international laws against Unfair Competition and Defense of Intellectual Property; about technical risks and recommendations on how entrepreneurs can bring their software assets into compliance with current legislation.
This portal has a link to access the Anonymous Complaints Against Software Piracy website. www.denunciepirataria.org.br, released in November 2012. The complaints received have strengthened the investigative work of police authorities across the country to identify sources of piracy.
With the help of the Complaints Portal and the society active in this fight, it was also possible to seize, in 2013, thousands of pirated media, including software and serials for activating computer programs. More than 150 IT resellers, located in the South, Southeast and Midwest regions, were approached by local authorities.
Together with Empreendedor Legal, we seek to promote educational activities with support for events, partnerships with local entities and the offer of software for ABES members under special conditions. Recently, this campaign was reinforced with the support of Sebrae (Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises). Together, the two entities have as their main objective to show small businesses the importance of using original software to ensure the organic growth of their ventures.
In this campaign, we also count on the essential partnership of government and industry entities: ABPI – Brazilian Intellectual Property Association; APEX – Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency; BSA – The Software Alliance; CNC – National Confederation of Commerce; CNCP – National Council to Combat Piracy; ETCO – Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics and MBC – Movimento Brasil Competitivo.
Disrespect for property rights seriously undermines the principle of legality and economic growth, as well as the development of innovative technologies. It also creates an unfair market in which honest companies are unable to compete.
According to BSA – The Software Alliance, the financial impact of this type of business generates losses of approximately US$ 2.848 billion for the software industry. If software piracy in Brazil, which currently stands at 53%, were reduced by 10 percentage points over the next four years, more than 12,300 jobs would be created and more than US$ 4 billion dollars would be returned to the Brazilian economy.
In the 1980s, these numbers were already much higher, with the software piracy rate reaching 92%. Actions such as the Legal Entrepreneur initiative supported by the entity over the years contributed to a greater awareness of consumers and, consequently, to a noticeable decrease in this index.
With the continuity of clarification initiatives such as Empreendedor Legal; the new means of selling software, such as SaaS (Software as a Service); the increase in the purchasing power of the population; in addition to the support of government authorities, software piracy in the country should continue to decrease in the coming years, making Brazil more competitive.
EN 
PT 
