US LAW 'CAN WORK TO ADVANTAGE OF THAI ICT SECTOR'
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The US Unfair Competition Act (UCA), which took effect last July, is actually a boost for Thailand's ICT sector, especially the fledgling software industry. The law requires that exporters to the United States use only licensed software and hardware in a
Sukumal, who is a consultant at the Education Ministry’s Office of the Basic Education Commission and was a former adviser to the National Economic and Social Development Board on IT projects, said that although currently the law is enforced only in two states – Washington and Louisiana – recent developments point to a possibility that it may very well be enforced nationwide in the future. In November, 39 attorneys-general representing 36 US states and three territories signed a letter to the Federal Trade Commission pledging commitment for enforcement in their states and territories, using existing unfair-competition statutes and urging the FTC to take legal punitive actions against users of pirated software at the federal level.
She said the essence of this law targets exporters who continue to use pirated software. What most people don’t realise is that this law applies to all software and hardware of every nationality, Thailand included. This means the law basically works to strengthen the enforcement of local copyright laws and protection of intellectual property rights by making it liable for both exporters to the US and US buyers who buy from exporters despite knowing that their overseas suppliers use illegal IT. Given the third-party liability element in the law, US buyers will be keen to source only from UCA-compliant exporters and whichever companies have it ready first will stand a better chance of winning big business.
“For the United States, the benefit might be stronger protection of its IT industry. For exporters to the US, this law levels the playing field among rival manufacturers trying to export the same type of goods or product components,” she said.
The legal stimulation for Thai business operators to comply with the law will definitely help to create a more conducive environment for IT innovators. What Thailand lacks is not innovators but serious enforcement of the copyright law.
“What’s the point of spending years designing software programs only to have your products copied and sold at fire-sale prices?” she posed.
She added that Thailand can benefit from the UCA by encouraging the use of genuine IT, toughening the enforcement of copyright laws and promoting IT innovation for export and domestic use. This is in line with the government’s ICT2020 Policy Framework that includes among others the establishment of a national office of software business development promotion, the establishment of a creative economy in which software innovators receive funding support as part of the proposed R&D Matching Fund, and the setting up of a separate industrial estate for software and other IT companies.
Implemented rightly and in a continued integrated manner, Thailand and local IT innovators will have much to gain from the UCA and a more prosperous and better-protected ICT industry. Even now, with limited support and protection, there are Thai companies that export software programs to overseas markets, albeit a small number.
“The future can be as good as we are determined to create it. Instead of being hired by overseas companies to develop software applications, why not design and develop home-grown software applications and export them to the US and the world. That will spur the economy and create more quality jobs for Thais. The possibilities for Thailand are limitless,” said Sukumal.
