singapore & vietnam
PROJECT
Content
With advances of technology and time, the modern society is getting more and more digitized and people are getting more and more inter-connected through the use of ICT applications. Companies, government agencies educational bodies and financial institutions are all using computers and engaged in electronic activities. Thus, there is an ever increasing need for software to compliment this phenomenon.
The pervasiveness of such electronic activities worldwide is increasing at a phenomenonal rate. The number of households in the modern society that own a personal computer is much higher than say, a few years back. As the world gets more interconnected through computers and more people own a computer, the need for computer hardware and software is ever present. As technology gets better with each passing day, software companies come up with newer and better products for society.
The problems arise as such software products are expensive and newer versions are being churned out by software companies faster than anyone would have expected. In order not to be obsolete in terms of technology and to be up to date with the rest of the world, one would have to buy the newer software products to keep up. In the case of businesses and companies, the need to be ahead in a competitive environment makes this need to be up to date even more crucial. Therefore, the need to purchase such commercial software products.
To combat the needs of the masses for the new software products that are affordable to all, alternatives present itself as software pirates illegally duplicate the original products and then sell the duplicated ones on the market. According to the Business Software Alliance's (BSA) Eighth Annual Survey on global software piracy, the average piracy rate for commercial software across Asia Pacific is at its highest level since 1996 and dollar losses in the region in 2002 were at an all time high of US$5.5 billion [1]. This is a worrying trend.
Other than software piracy, there are some people with such level of technical competence that they developed tiny programs known as ‘cracks’ that allows other to use unlicensed software with authentication. These allow users of unlicensed software to by-pass software authentication implemented by software companies, enabling them to use the pirated products.
To curb such activities that the authorities have come up with various measures and enforcements such as, educational campaigns to teach the public the harms of using unlicensed/pirated software products, conducting regular raids on pirated software vendors and introducing tougher punishments on offenders to deter software pirates.
Thus, the purpose of this project is to find out about the attitudes of the different people of different nationalities towards the uses of unlicensed/pirated software products, their respective government measures towards combating such illegal acts, to what degree is the law being enforced in their countries and their awareness of the legal implications of such activities. In the case of this project, the countries being studied are Vietnam and Singapore respectively.
By studying the differences between the two countries, we hope to understand the severity of software piracy in both countries, whether there are any similarities between the two, and from the study of the measures adopted by the respective governments in fighting software piracy, we hope to understand the effectiveness of the measures. From these, we will be able to see how serious the problems of software piracy actually are and what measures are useful in addressing the problems.
As mentioned before, by observing the differences between Singapore and Vietnam, we hope to be able to understand the common perceptions and causes of software piracy in both countries and the differences between the two countries.
And by comparing the measures adopted by each respective government in fighting software piracy, we hope to be able to compare and contrast the methods used, their relative effectiveness in fighting software piracy and from the results, conclude which measures are useful in addressing the problems.
Listed below are the motivations for our study:
To understand the public attitudes towards the usage of unlicensed/pirated software and how informed are the common people about the laws regarding such activities, so as to understand the underlying causes of the prevalence of activities, such as software piracy.
To understand the measures taken by the local authorities to stop such activities and their effectiveness in deter other people from trying to do the same, so as to understand which measures are effective and which are not and to come up with better solutions to the current problems.
In this project, we chose to find out about the public perception of the uses of unlicensed/pirated software products in Singapore and Vietnam and what the relevant authorities in each country are doing about the problems of software piracy.
Listed below are the objectives of our project:
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To find out about the attitudes of the common people, in this case, Singaporeans and Vietnamese, towards the use of unlicensed and/or pirated software products.
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To find out about what the authorities (Singapore and Vietnam) are doing about the prevalence of unlicensed software on the market, the measures in place to deter such activities.
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The effectiveness of the measures in place and the degree of enforcement the authorities are taking (whether they are really serious about enforcing the law or not).
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The existence of the country’s laws (Singapore and Vietnam) with regards towards such activities (usage of unlicensed/pirated software etc.)
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The awareness of the public of such laws with regards towards activities like the usage of unlicensed/pirated software and the legal implications behind it.
In order to achieve the objectives stated before, we have come up with six research questions to help focus our study on software piracy and the differences between Singapore and Vietnam situations.
The six research questions are as follow:
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To find out about the general attitudes of the people of Singapore and Vietnam towards using unlicensed/pirated software and the differences in them (if any).
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To find out about the awareness of the laws in place in their respective countries (Singapore and Vietnam) and the general feelings Singaporeans and Vietnamese have with regards to the laws the differences between them (if any).
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To find out about the laws and the measures in place in Singapore and Vietnam and the differences in them (if any).
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To find out about what the Singaporean government and the Vietnamese government are doing about the problems and their measures taken and the differences in them (if any).
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To find out about the effectiveness of the actions taken by the Singaporean government and the Vietnamese government in combating the rampant spread of unlicensed/ pirated software and the differences in them (if any).
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The main focus the project will be about the general perceptions of Singaporeans and Vietnamese with regards toward software piracy and the general awareness of the legal implications of engaging in activities such as buying and/or selling of unlicensed/pirated software products.
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Subsequent focus of the project will be comparison between Singapore and Vietnam, and their measures taken in combating software piracy and the effectiveness of the adopted measures.
As stated in our objectives and research questions, the emphasis of our study is primarily to find out about the differences (if any) between software piracy in Singapore and Vietnam, especially the general perceptions of the problems of software piracy and the awareness of the laws and legal implications of engaging in related activities.
Subsequently, we will take a look at the prevailing laws of Singapore and Vietnam with regards toward software piracy and the respective authorities’ response to the rising trend of software piracy.
Our approach to finding out more about the general perceptions and common attitudes toward the usage of unlicensed/ pirated software of the people of Singapore and Vietnam is through a survey done on Singaporean undergraduates and Vietnamese undergraduates in the National University of Singapore.
We intend to find out from the people surveyed:
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Whether they themselves approve of the use of unlicensed/ pirated software products (is it right or wrong?).
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The reasons and/or motivations behind the usage of unlicensed/ pirated software products.
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Their degree of approval and tendency towards software piracy indirectly through the amount of unlicensed/ pirated software products they had in their possessions and the frequency in which they acquire new unlicensed/ pirated software products.
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To a small extent, we intend to find out the reasons why some people do not approved of the usage of unlicensed/ pirated software products.
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To find out, indirectly, the people perceptions of the severity of the problems of software piracy through their knowledge of other people in their social circles and families who engaged in software piracy related activities.
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Whether they are aware of the prevailing laws with regards to the usage and sale of unlicensed/pirated software product.
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Whether they are aware of the legal implications behind software piracy related activities.
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Their perceptions of how effective the relevant authorities are in dealing with the problems of software piracy.
Subsequently, we intend to find out more about the prevailing laws in Singapore and Vietnam with regards to software piracy. To achieve this aim, we intend to obtain the relevant materials needed from the related legislative acts (e.g. Copyright Act) of each respective government statute board from online sources and/or from libraries. Then, we will quote relevant passages from the respective acts and do a simple comparison between the two countries.
Finally, we intend to find out about the measures the Singaporean government and the Vietnamese government are taking to solve the problems of software piracy and the effectiveness of the actions taken in combating the rampant spread of unlicensed/ pirated software and the differences in them (if any). To achieve this, we will obtain the relevant information about the measures taken by the respective authorities from archives and/or online sources such as news portals and websites of government agencies that deal with such commercial crimes.
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To find out about the general attitudes of the people of Singapore and Vietnam towards using unlicensed/pirated software and the differences in them (if any).
In order to achieve the two objectives as mentioned above, we have administered a survey to answer some of our research questions. In our survey, we have a combination of opened and closed questions with multiple choices to help us collect more detailed data from the respondents for better analysis.
Due to constraints of resources and time, a limited survey could only be carried out on Singaporean undergraduates and Vietnamese undergraduates in the National University of Singapore. The total size of the population which the survey is done on is 61, with 31 Singaporean respondents and 30 Vietnamese respondents
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