singapore & vietnam
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Piracy trends in Vietnam
In Vietnam, the piracy rate is the highest in the Asia-Pacific region and it is amongst the highest in the world. The piracy rate is 92% though the revenue loss due to piracy is only US$ 40 million [8]. This is due to the lower IT penetration rate of the country.
The market for software in Vietnam is nearly pirate, as is indicated by the high figure for the piracy rate. Rampant software piracy not only harms foreign firms whose software products are affected, it also hurt the local software producers. It is said that in Vietnam, the phenomenon of software piracy is hindering the growth of a much-needed new industry in the country. And Vietnamese software makers estimate that they are losing up to 50% of their earnings to the pirates, forcing many of the smaller firms into bankruptcy [9].
In the past, the lack of a proper legal framework or regulations has played a big part in the high piracy rate in Vietnam. Today, though copyright protection already existed under the Bilateral Copyright Agreement since 1998, enforcement of the laws has not been very ideal. Anti-piracy measures taken by the authorities have not been decisive and continuous. The enforcement agencies generally have little understanding of the new copyright laws they are suppose to implement due to the confusion caused by the rapid introduction of the new copyright laws. In addition, though there are heavy penalties for copyright violation, there are relatively few offenders who have actually been punished [10].
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