By Hector D. Calabia
IDG News Service,
Buenos Aires Bureau
BUENOS AIRES –
(12/18/2000)
On Friday, Software Legal, one of the two Argentine software
trade associations, sued criminally against several Argentine federal state
bodies, accusing them of using pirated software. Software Legal, a trade
association of international software vendors, charged against the Secretariat
for Tourism, the Federal Radio Committee (COMFER), and the Superintendency of
Social Security. Meanwhile, the other trade association, the Argentine Chamber of Software
and Computer Services Companies (CESSI) sent a
legal notification to the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, Chrystian Colombo
[CQ], requesting a "fast solution to the state software piracy"
problem.
This
afternoon, Jorge Cassino, the president of the CESSI will have a meeting with
the number two man of the Cabinet of Ministers, Marcos Makon [CQ], seeing a
solution to this problem, said CESSI officials. However, the chances for a solution are very low. "We have
been waiting all year long, and no solutions were offered", said Cassino.
Among the
federal organizations in the aim of the CESSI is the powerful AFIP (Federal
Revenue Service), equivalent to the US IRS. By midday last Friday, the CESSI filed a criminal lawsuit against this
agency for US$20 million. The lawsuit was presented to the Federal Court Nº 10,
in charge of Judge Gustavo Literas, according to a press report distributed
this morning by the CESSI.
According to
spokesmen of both trade associations, the biggest problem is the bureaucracy
and the many layers of state organization that makes it almost impossible to
determine a valid interlocutor. "Last year, we had reached an agreement
with the former Secretary of Public Proceedings, Claudia Bello, but after the
inauguration of the new President and the appointment of new Ministers,
everything reverted to point zero", a spokesman for Software legal said.
Last week, Jorge Cassino confirmed to the IDG News Service
that the federal state owes about $35 million to the software industry for
unpaid license fees, not counting fines and accumulated interest. The very
convenient agreement reached with Claudia Bello would have reduced this to only
$5.4 million, an "almost symbolic" payment for the regularization of
software used in the public sector. [See " Groups Urge Argentine
Government to Use Legal Software", Oct. 24]
This problem
does not only affect the national administration. It extends to the provincial
states and municipalities. Last Friday, a search warrant was issued against the
City of Buenos Aires Housing Commission, in order to check for pirated software
being used there. A in-house lawyer, that did not allow the machines to be
inspected, stopped the search. Negotiations are being held in order to resume
the search today.
Software Legal
represents the interests of international software vendors in Argentina. After
the end of the truce extended to private companies and the State for
regularizing illegal software (November 15, 2000), it has been presenting
criminal lawsuits against big and medium-size enterprises in Argentina almost
every two weeks. It has got 170 search warrants since 1998, and it has sent more
than 15,000 warning letters to private companies suspected of using pirated
software, according to a report issued by the trade association.
Criminal
lawsuits are possible because software piracy is considered a crime in
Argentina, since a new law for the protection of copyright was passed in
November 1998. The distribution and use of pirated software can be punished by
up to 6 year imprisonment.
The piracy
rate of Argentina is about 62 per cent. According to Software Legal, the losses
caused by this activity amount to $192 million yearly.
The
Argentine Chamber of Software and Computer Services Companies (CESSI) is at
http://www.cessi.org.ar. Software Legal can be reached at
http://www.softwarelegal.org.ar/.
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