Expert Asks FG For Software Copyright Commission

A SOFTWARE developer has called for the establishment of a Software Copyright Commission, SCC, in order to effectively tackle the growing menace of software piracy in the country.

Speaking in an interview, the Founder and President Programos Software Group Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Amos said that the country is currently not winning the war against software piracy because the police and lawyers lack the capacity to fight offenders.

According to Amos, who is the brain behind development of software for the Nigerian capital market, a software protection body is in a better position to secure the right of digital intellectual property saying that the Nigeria Copy Commission is well enabled to do that.

He said that the current copyright law is not inclusive enough for abstract professions like the software profession noting that “many other software developers in this country also suffer this silently and helplessly from the attack of software pirate but would not talk.”

He added that although there may be related law but that such laws may just be in silos and not effective in the fight against software piracy saying that the agencies like the Nigerian Technology Development Agency, NITDA, and National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion, NOTAP, can control the menace if empowered.

Referring to a recent discussion he had with a security operative whereby there was a display of lack of knowledge about software, he said that only a Commission on it can properly educate and inform security agencies on the protection of digital intellectual.

He disclosed that infringement on digital intellectual property is a great lost to the owner of that property stating that many software development companies in the country have been grounded as a result of software piracy.

He noted if it is so difficulty for big companies to survive the attack of software pirate, how then easy will it be for start-up companies and individuals to weather the storm software piracy.

Amos disclosed that once the source code of a software is stolen it therefore means that the company has been pushed out of business saying that an If “One luck I have is that I have groomed the Nigerian Capital Market for almost two decades and I have a clientele that is currently fighting for me.”

He said that he ready to fight the battle against software pirate because of the future of the industry in Nigeria and so that those who steal source code in order to kill others business will not succeed.

He further said that whenever a software developer suffer piracy challenge it puts the company in bad light before its customer stressing that in that case the solution is getting the source code back or rewriting the code.