Serbia Targets Software Pirates

Zoran's computer software shop is, like dozens of others dotted around Belgrade, closing down.

The shelves remain cluttered with the latest in pirated games and DVDs once sold at knockdown prices.

The stock includes everything from expensive Microsoft Windows operating systems to newly-released blockbuster movies, which could be bought from as little as two and a half euro each.

But new legislation, introduced at the beginning of last month, is putting paid to the thriving and lucrative trade in counterfeit goods.

The businessman shakes his head sadly as he tears down the "Sale" signs and prepares to pack away his stock for the last time. "Though this new copyright legislation is not being strictly enforced, for now, it is getting harder to conduct business," he said.

"We are never sure when the authorities may turn up to take our goods away and press charges against us. I am tired of hiding from the police - this is the end."

Zoran, who did not want to give his full name, is one of many such owners who have been forced to clean up their acts. All over the city, shops are closing down and adverts for cheap computer programmes no longer appear in Belgrade's newspapers.

Serbia has long been an international centre for technological piracy - and the authorities have a tough task ahead of them if the traders of counterfeit software pirates are to be stamped out for good.

"Many of my colleagues are going to carry on selling counterfeit discs on the street from parked cars - and simply move away when they see the police coming," warned Zoran.

This illegal trade has been widespread in Serbia for more than a decade, encouraged by the international isolation the country suffered until the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000.

Now the authorities are fighting back. Any shop owner or street-seller caught peddling pirated software will have their goods confiscated and could face severe financial penalties - even prison.

A turning point in the fight against the piracy was Serbia's adherence to a contract on strategic partnership signed with Microsoft in 2001, following a meeting between Serbia's prime minister Zoran Djindjic and the corporation's owner Bill Gates.

A Microsoft representative office opened soon after in Belgrade, containing a team from the international business association of software producers for the protection of intellectual property, BSA.

The Microsoft office then began the task of trying to legalise the mountain of illegal software in Serbia - on terms that people might accept.

Nebojsa Momcilovic, a Microsoft expert in charge of fighting computer piracy in Belgrade, told IWPR that around 80 per cent of all software in Serbia was pirated, compared to around 30 per cent in the European Union and 20 per cent in the United States.

"We want to raise people's consciousness, because the majority is not even aware that the software they use is illegal," he said. "Even if the level of piracy is lowered only to 60 per cent, that will be acceptable."

Taking the low purchasing power of the Serbian public into account, Microsoft analysts announced a compromise solution. In the last three months of 2002, private companies with at least ten computers could approach the corporation and legalise the software by paying the license fee in installments over three years.

Aleksandar Bojovic of Microsoft's Belgrade office told IWPR that there had been a lot of interest in the scheme. "Several large companies have already legalised their programmes, including the directorate for building land and the development of Belgrade; Mobtel, the Serbian mobile telephone company; and the Dunav Osiguranje insurance company," he said.

The cheapest offer included legalisation of some older operating systems for only 80 dollars, and users were also offered free upgrades over the coming three years.

However, as of last month, these favourable conditions have been replaced with a much harsher system. Larger companies with dozens of computers will be targeted first over the coming two years - along with those who produce the pirated software, and those who sell them.

"The penalties are expected to be harsh and may include prison," said Branislav Andjelkovic, secretary of the Serbian agency for the development of information technology and the internet. "During this period, small retailers offering software on the street, or through advertisements, will have their goods confiscated and face fines.

"In the third and final phase, the law will be used fully against all subjects, regardless of the size of the company and the number of computers running illegal programmes. Prosecution of small retailers will be stepped up as well."

The new legislation is expected to spark an increase in police activity in the spring, when the authorities take action against those vendors who persist in plying their illegal trade in Belgrade.

One police operation last year, at a warehouse in the suburb of Zvezdara, netted several hundred thousand euro worth of counterfeit goods and smashed an illegal compact disc manufacturing ring. More than a quarter of a million discs were confiscated in the raid.

Slavisa Stijak is a journalist with the television station, Yu Info.