intech@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Whether or not a cybercafe owner uses legitimate or pirated copies of software can be a matter of life or death for his ­business, it is claimed.

Those that employ illegal copies have a huge advantage over those that stay on the right side of the law, according to several cyber-cafe owners interviewed by In.Tech.

The Selangor Cyber Owners Association, which has 150 members, claims the Internet cafes that go legit are having a tough time staying in business while those that don’t are flourishing.

It estimates that there are about 1,800 illegal cybercafes in the state, compared to the roughly 600 law-abiding businesses.

The large disparity is because the fees paid to license the software is driving many of the legitimate cybercafes out of business, said the cafe owners who spoke on ­condition of anonymity.

Bronson Chua, Selangor Cyber Owners Association president, sympathises with them. He said the owners who use illegal software save tens of thousands of ringgit or more a year on licences.

Citing an example, he said a big cybercafe could have up to 1,000 PCs. It costs RM428 to license the operating system for each one, amounting to RM428,000 in a one-off payment.

This does not include the cost of licensing each and every game ­software for all the machines. A cybercafe owner who wanted to be known only as Hans, said he pays RM50,000 a year for such licensing for the 50 PCs on his premises.

Then, there’s the maintenance cost for the PCs.

All these expenses add up, said the cafe owners, making it difficult for their businesses to stay out of the red. Also, these costs are compounded when the owner has a chain of cybercafes.

“We just can’t compete against the illegal cybercafes because we are following the rules. That’s unfair,” said one owner.

Another owner claimed Microsoft Corp is discriminating against cybercafe owners. He said it used to cost RM400 to license its Windows operating system, “but this year, Microsoft raised that to RM428.”

“Any other business can still license the operating system for just RM400, but not cybercafe ­operators,” he complained.

A Microsoft Malaysia spokesman said the company started a “Go-Original” Cybercafe Campaign early this month to help the operators address the affordability issue.

Under the campaign, Microsoft offers up to a 50% discount for the just-launched Windows 7 operating system and 90% for Office 2007 licences. Office 2007 is a suite of office applications.

The spokesman said cybercafé owners should go to www.go-original.com.my for more information on the discounts, or they can call (03) 7623-8181.

Kick ‘em and now

The operators and the Selangor Cyber Owners Association welcome any action taken by antipiracy watchdog the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs against cybercafes that are operating with illegal software copies.

The association believes the BSA is doing a fine job enforcing the use of legal software copies now. But the cafe owners that In.Tech spoke to, disagreed.

“When are we going to see more raids against these operators?” asked one owner. “When are we going to read about these operators being taken to court and fined heavily?”

Instead, the cafe owners claimed, the authorities seem more ­interested in policing the legitimate cafes to ensure that these continue to pay all the ­licensing fees each year.

As for the illegal operators, they appear to be immune from any enforcement action by the ­authorities. “We even know of some illegal operators getting tipped off before a raid,” claimed Hans.

Aside from calling on the ­authorities to step up enforcement activities, several of the cybercafe owners suggested that the software vendors consider lowering their licensing fees.

“They could possibly consider making it cheaper to license their ­software the more copies a ­cybercafe uses,” said one operator. “Or they could charge a flat rate irrespective of how many PCs the software is loaded on,” chipped in another.

There is no discount on operating system licences but there is a 5% to10% discount on licensing fees for game software (which typically retails at about RM200 each) if a cybercafe has more than 100 PCs.

The cybercafe owners were commenting on a recent newspaper advertisement by the BSA warning Internet cafe operators to use legitimate software copies.

According to the ad, the ­authorities would also be ­intensifying enforcement action against cybercafes that use pirated software. The actions would take place after Nov 16, the ad said.

The BSA said operators found guilty of infringing copyright laws can be fined up to RM20,000 for every illegal software copy or be jailed for five years, or both.