...Malaysian Government's Anti-Piracy Efforts??

And what a lame effort that is. The last time I checked, Malaysia was ranked third, behind Taiwan and China in the list of the Top 10 breeding grounds for piracy. I guess it is part of Asian culture not to pay for something that can be obtained at a lower cost even though it’s downright illegal. Piracy in Asia is so widespread that it’s become part of our culture. Pay US$39.99 for a copy of The Sims and I guarantee you that you’ll be raising a couple of eyebrows.

Now why isn’t the government doing anything about it? Of course they are. In the past couple of years, the Malaysian government has been taking certain measures to curb piracy. Amongst them, are raids and rewarding people who give tip offs. But really how effective are these measures? Would someone want to rat out his reliable source of bootlegged software or movies? Wouldn’t it be like biting the very hand that’s feeing them?

One thing I have to say about the raids is….it’s complete rubbish. The pirates are a lot more organized that they used to be. Now they even come equipped with scouts to look out for possible police raids and even diversions to help them elude getting arrested. Another thing that makes the whole effort fall apart is the amount of corruption that’s prevalent amongst the local officers. Word has it that these pirates bribe some policemen with their own contraband. If you have the chance to drop by an officer’s house, chances are you’re probably going to see a couple of pirated copies of DVDs or CDs.

Another really funny thing that I’ve heard is that sometimes, the directives for raids are so specific that the police are blind to everything else. Ever wondered why while the software shops are closed during raids, the illegal DVD stores are still having business as usual? Apparently it’s because the police are looking specifically for illegal copies of SOFTWARE and NOT illegal copies of DVD videos. Seems that the current target for raids are video CDs and audio CDs. As a result, people selling illegal DVDs are operating in broad daylight. So once you know what they’re looking for specifically, just change the format. No more CDs, but DVDs and you’ll be fine.

The ineffectiveness of the government’s efforts goes beyond slack policemen and corrupt immigration officers. I believe that it’s more than that. By being lax with restrictions on piracy, the Malaysian Government is trying to protect the Malaysian Economy. The legal copies of software stream in through our ports or through our phone lines. It becomes illegal when these legal copies are duplicated and distributed to the masses locally. So there’s only the cost of the first copy that goes to General Bill Gates. The other thousands of copies sold, that could have been profit to Mr. Bill has now, instead gone to the local pirates. The Ringgit stays in the country and Uncle Sam gets jack. The same goes for audio CDs and DVD movies.

Sadly the Malaysian Government as to keep the foreign investors happy. If they’re loosing too much to the local pirates, it’s likely that Microsoft/Sun/BMG are not going to bother distributing CDs here. As a result, the economy suffers too. So what does the government do? Well, look like they’re doing something about it of course! The token “1 million Illegal Copies Seized” headline once in a while should do the trick! As a result, the thugs running piracy rings, the foreign investors and most importantly the Malaysians themselves are happy. End of story.

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