7/31/2019 BizIntelligence 1st Edition Tuesday 28 August 2012

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BUSINESSDAY: www.businessdayonline.com Monday 27 August 2012

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

I Nigeria is to replicate the success oIndia in sotware development andoutsourcing, there has to be a recali-bration o the way we apply copyrightlaw. Our survey reveals that or every

ten Nigerian sotware users, eight use non-genuine or pirated copies. Te most widelyused pirated sotware include the MicrosotOce Suite (85%), Microsots OperatingSystem (91%) and various sotware used orediting pictures (40%) (See chart 1).

Furthermore, students are more likelyto copy and share pirated sotware thanany other class o sotware users in Nigeria.Tough they have an assortment o sotwarethey typically do not buy originals. Teymeet their sotware needs by copying romriends (63%), buying non-genuine copiesrom shops (14%), downloading trial ver-sions and cracking them (20%), or buyingoriginals (3%).

Te general population is not much di-erent; the minor dierence lies in the actthat a number o working individuals getoriginal sotware rom their work places.Our research also revealed that specalised,proessional sotware, especially or feldslike acility management, accounting andengineering are less likely to be pirated thangeneral use sotware.

It is gladdening to note that most oour respondents indicate that they preeroriginals because o the many challengeswith security checks and other diculties

they experience with non-genuine cop-ies. Tey also indicated readiness to buyoriginal copies

At Compu ter Vill age, Niger ias busi-est computer and sotware market, anoriginal copy o the Microsots Oce Suite(home premium, single user) costs betweenN15,000-N20,000, while a pirated copy costsbetween N150-N200. An original copy oMicroit or Windows, an econometricssotware, costs N130,000 and sometimes youneed to place an order beore you get a copy,but a pirated version costs just N700 or less.But pirated copies oten ail during installa-tion, but that has not deterred those who buy.

Our survey revealed that or every singleshop that oers original sotware there arefve others which oer alternative piratedcopies at Computer Village. Some shops

even sell both. When we spoke to piratedcopy marketers, most saw no reason whytheir trade should be interered with; theyattributed their persistence in the trade tothe low capital required or the business andhigh patronage.

But dierent institutions are working tosee that the tide is reversed. Earlier this year,Microsot (which has suered most o thepiracy, according to our survey) organizeda roundtable discussion to commemo-rate World Intellectual Property Day; thegathering drew attention to how the use onon-genuine sotware threatens legitimatebusinesses and creates a negative impact onboth global and local economies.

Microsot is not alone in its condemna-tion o piracy. Te Institute o Sotware Prac-titioners o Nigeria (ISPON), a body set up to

acilitate business and trade in sotware andrelated services, has as part o it mandate toa goal to develop rules and regulations thatwill discourage sotware piracy and ensurethat sotware products and services are usedin accordance with intellectual propertyrights. How ar the body will go is ultimatelya unction o governments commitmentand support through eective legislation.

An affair with pirated softwareOBODO EJIRO & OLOWA PETER

here is business intelligence in all othis data. Over hal o respondents say iprices were lower they would change (53%)to originals, nine percent stated that theywould switch to originals i there is regula-tion o intellectual property which punishes

violation, while 24 percent say they will buyoriginals i akes have negative impact ontheir computers (see chart 2). All o theseactors are variables which a proactive sot-ware producer can creatively aect to suitits markets.

Nollywood, has servedas a veritable source oentertainment not onlyto English speaking A-

rica and beyond but also sustainsour channels on South AricasMulti Choice Cable Network. Aso 2005, Nollywood was estimatedto be worth $250 million accordingto Center or Digital Imaging Arts,at Boston University, US, todaythe industry is worth about $372.5million.

Produced, in most cases, under

the worst o movie making con-ditions known to modern man,Nollywood movies tell tales othe daily challenges, successes,and ailures o Nigerians. In somecases, its movies are amusing.

oday, the Nigerian movie indus-try has ulflled much o what anyo its peers is set up to do, giving ushistoric accounts o events, servingas a tool that helps us understandthe workings o systems in our s oci-ety, giving hope through the storiesit shares, and helping to expose

veiled deeds in society. But there areaspects o our existence that havebeen explored by the industry.

It has not explored the war on

domestic terror, which has becomepart our daily existence. he US waron terror immediately gave birthto a number o movies intendedto draw a line between religionand undamentalism, and to steeraway those who stand the chance obeing indoctrinated into believingthat the agenda o terrorism is theoundation o any religion.

Nollywood has not ollowed thisexample. Clearly, it has not givenus movies surrounding unda-mentalism in Nigeria. Recent hap-penings, especially in NorthernNigeria, holds a series o stories

wait ing to b e told . he st rugg le o rsurvival in the midst o wealth in

the Niger Delta is also a story Nol-lywood has not told. hese are ourrealities too.

No doubt, the industry acesmany challenges, but it has livedup to them. Beore now, the Gha-naian government had imposedhigh tari on Nigerian movies andhuge ines on Nigerian actors who

wis h to sho ot ilm s in Ghana. heDemocratic Republic o Congoalso tried to ban Nigerian ilmsaltogether, but Nollywood orgeson.

Acco rding to a re por t rom heEconomist, Nigerian ilms areas popular abroad as they are athome. Ivorian rebels in the bush

stop ighting when a shipment oDVDs arrives rom Lagos. Zambianmothers say their children talk

with acce nts lear nt rom Niger iantelevision. Millions o Aricans

watc h Nig eria n ilms ever yday .

research@businessdayonline.com

Another investmentidea for Nollywood

OBODO EJIRO

Source: BusinessDay Research

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