Is Piracy a cultural issue?

(The following article appeared in my regular column on the Q4 2008 issue of Business Technology magazine)

At 69%... the Philippine software piracy rate is pretty bad… and downright embarrassing. We aren’t the highest in Asia, but when you compare us to more “developed” countries in the region like the 16% of Singapore and the 10% of Australia, I for one wonder if the correlation between the attitude towards piracy and the level of development of a country is a little more than coincidence.

The topic of software piracy has always been ticklish. And in some circles, people walk on eggshells when the issue comes up. Working for a software company whose products are blatantly pirated in our faces, I have seen cases of piracy in literally every nook and cranny of our country.

What sickens me is the fact that those who do pirate openly admit that they are pirating software yet consider it a normal practice and claim there isn’t anything wrong with it.

Sure. Piracy in many forms is rampant everywhere. Just drop by any of the number of C-D “malls” in the city and you will find a number of things. Bags-bags-bags. Class “A” or Class “B” rip-offs of Coach, Gucci, Louie Vuitton. Shoes... Prada, Cole Hann, Converse, Nike, Adidas, Crocs. Watches… Rolex, Tag Heuer, Omega. And of course apparel… Polo, Abercrombie and Fitch, Lacoste, Armani. Let’s not end there… perfume, toys, beauty products, food products, electronics, cellphones, …. Practically anything these days can be “faked.”

But “fake” or counterfeit products are quite different than software piracy or those on related media like movies and music. With a “fake” product, there is still significant investment that goes into these items to cover cost of production… from materials to labor. And at the end of the day, depending on the skills of those that create the copies, the final product may or may not be exactly up to par as the original… but for many people… “pwede na yan…. di naman obvious.”

The unique dilemma of media piracy – software, movies, and music – is that digital copies today produce exact duplicates of the original. Well, with movies and music you can still experience quality issues, but not with software. For software to by pirated, it must be “exact.” And on top of that, these software even contain hacks or cracks to bypass any anti-copying technologies that were put in place. And with software… its so easy… and cheap to do.

Given that its been around for many years, I feel that a fundamental problem we Filipinos face on this issue is the issue of apathy. We know its illegal. Yet we don’t consider it wrong.

Ever since the mid 80s, when the Apple ][ clone came about, software piracy was abound. You could get Apple software anywhere for your host of Apple clones. Then when the IBM PC came out… it continued and grew till where we are today.

Let’s step back for a while and think about the fundamental issues here. Why is software pirated? Is it because it’s intangible? Or because we really believe it has to be “free” like what others may want you to believe.

When people go out and buy a new PC – or even second hand for that matter – people don’t have issues with paying for hardware. If a PC component, like memory or hard disks, is too expensive, people can easily opt for a lower capacity, thus cheaper hardware component. On the flip side, people “invest” in higher-end hardware for better video, clearer sound, or lightning-fast processing. But, regardless of your PC being worth P16 Thousand or P60 Thousand… many people won’t think twice to put cheap pirated software on their brand new hardware (regardless of their social status).

No one will pirate a Dell, Asus, or Lenovo machine. But what is inside is a different matter.

So again why? And if you ever answer that, ask yourself; “why is it so socially acceptable?”

“Free” is sometimes associated with “no value.” But that is not the case here. People do see value in software. They want the best software, not the freebie alternatives. Yet they just don’t want to pay for it. But, once again let me again say that paying for the hardware – be it the computer, a printer, or a web cam --doesn’t seem to be an issue.

Do people not see “value” in software; therefore they don’t want to pay for it? I find that so hard to accept. I believe that people, why they are on the lookout for a good deal, will pay good money to attain goods or services equivalent to its value to that individual. To take an extreme example, with the case of drugs, despite the high street price and the perpetual “war on drugs”, these products still sell and there are always people who will pay the price because of its perceived value to them.

Does computer software hold the same level of value?

Many claim that software has become a commodity like water and electricity… but at least with water and electricity, after all the complaints, people will still pay. Is it because the fear of being with out it too high? Again… an issue of value and paying for it.

I went along with some colleagues of mine to an event for Internet Café Owners. There was this lady that stood up and gave a comment permanently etched in my memory. She said that, they want to buy legal software, but its so expensive, which is why they are “forced” to pirate. What happened next after she sat down was even more absurd… the rest of the audience applauded. Yes, I do realize that our software could seem expensive… but to justify piracy because of that? For a business where you earn from unpaid software? I scratched my head in disbelief.

Hold your horses… I don’t want to get into a discussion about software alternatives and debate the issues of proprietary software. That would be a long and never ending discussion… a battle waged throughout the world with no end in sight. I won’t even go into that discussion on whether or not piracy is considered stealing. What I want to do is to emphasize this underlying acceptance of piracy in society despite the knowledge that it isn’t legal.

One of those less-amiable traits of Filipinos is the notion of getting one over the other guy. That feeling of “naka-isa ako.” Can that apply here? “I’ll buy that nice looking P50,000 branded computer so I can show off to my friends…. and if I install pirated software… I don’t have to pay for it, and no one will know the difference. And if I use this for my business, I can get all the advantages of the software to run my business and earn a profit, without paying for it.”

Software piracy has become so widespread that law-enforcement is obviously challenged to keep up. It seems that the “risk” of piracy is so low that it has become “acceptable” despite the fact that people do know it is illegal.

The problem is definitely cultural. Yes, piracy is worldwide. But why is the piracy rate so much smaller in countries with a more developed economy? What does that really say about us as a people? Is it so engrained in our culture that Piracy has become one of those things that are openly illegal but its ok to do? What comes to my mind right now is that old commercial which goes “Sa mata ng bata, ang mali ay nagiging tama kung ginagawa ng matanda” (“In the eyes of a child, a wrong is made right if done by an adult.”)

I didn’t start out writing this proclaiming a war on piracy. It wasn’t my intention to point a finger at those who do profit from software piracy. Nor did I want to condemn those that eventually use pirated software. What I do want to focus on is the cultural root to why Piracy is indeed as widespread as it is.

Until we have a nation-wide paradigm shift… we will never solve the piracy issue.