http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/editorial/27850-nigeria-and-software-piracy

There is a growing use of computers in Nigeria, both for personal and business uses. Computers have software that enable users carry out different functions. Good trend it is, but a new report says Nigeria is home to the second highest piracy in the world. The report by Ipsos, which surveyed users in 32 countries, rated Nigeria just behind China in the number of people with computers that use pirated software – that is, obtaining software through illegal means. The rate of growth is put above 40 percent due to the increasing use of computers.

This is unacceptable. Essentially, software or any other form of piracy achieves few things, but all are inimical to the growth of business and development. First, it denies those that produced the software adequate reward for their work, and increasingly, a lot of money is being spent on research and development of these software. Second, those that acquire their software through legal means end up paying more for it. Third, intellectual theft, which is essentially what it is, discourages further development. Fourth, it results in the loss of millions of jobs. Sometimes, as a result of the above, it provides health and safety risks that come from unsafe products.

In situations where an average computer may contain as much as three to five software, this scale of piracy is huge and the losses suffered by software firms run into billions of US dollars. Emerging and developing markets account for a significant proportion of these activities and thus, the consequences.

One of the reasons illegal acquisition started or spread in developing countries is because what has been described as “accidental” illegal method is usually due to the fact many of these people were not aware of the proper approach and consequently unaware they were breaking laws. Also, the laws on issues such as piracy are still very weak and new in most developing countries, including Nigeria. Following this report, these laws and the approaches to dealing with piracy must now be strengthened.

While there is no significant number of software manufacturers in Nigeria, making Nigerian businesses only mildly affected in this case, piracy is such an international phenomenon that the implications are far and wide. Nigeria is a major of producer of films and music and the producers of these movies and music suffer similar losses that software manufacturers share as a result of piracy activities in Nigeria. Indeed, it is often the case that the proponents of piracy often cut across films, software and movies.

Piracy is essentially an infringement on the legal rights established by someone else. The enforcement authorities in Nigeria must work assiduously to reduce software piracy and other forms of piracy in Nigeria significantly. A piracy law broken is often the start of the infringement of another law. Those that benefit from software piracy, especially in commercial terms, also benefit from greater technology crimes. And in this case, they can only make the desired progress in partnership with software makers and their agents in Nigeria.

If Nigeria is to be taken seriously as an investment-friendly country and attract research and development in the area of software, we must take the problem of rising piracy very seriously indeed.