Copyright issues cloud software exports to US

A State of Washington Attorney General document was sent  to the Attorney Generals of other US states reaffirming its determination to punishment software copyright infringements in emerging markets.

The document read that by some estimates, the commercial value of unlicenced software used in emerging foreign markets tops $17 billion, which means that foreign manufacturers engaged in software piracy are able to evade sizeable IT costs.

Meanwhile, American manufacturers routinely bear these IT costs as an unavoidable cost of doing business legally in the United States.

“Through our research, policy development, and enforcement efforts, we continually seek to achieve the proper balance between competition and intellectual property – one that best promotes innovation and thereby spurs continued economic growth and development.

Maintaining the right balance is particularly challenging in today’s global markets, where the treatment of intellectual property in other countries inevitably impacts competition in the US,” said Rob McKenna, State of Washington Attorney General.

Pham Xuan Hong, deputy chairman of Vietnam Textile and Garment Association (Vitas), said large-scale textile and garment companies often used licenced software in their production process. However, to avoid any barrier for accessing US market, local firms should consider and review their software usage to use licensed software.

On April 4, 2011, the Washington State legislature passed a bill making it a violation of the state’s unfair competition laws for any business to sell products in Washington “while using stolen or misappropriated information technology in its business operations.”

Although this is not a US Federal law, the UCA does matter as Seattle is a major port of entry in Washington State for goods from Asia. Seattle ranks as the seventh largest US port by trade volume.

Michael Mudd, senior partner of Asia Policy Partners - a Hong Kong-based technology consultancy firm specialising in trade related business, said there was still an opportunity for Vietnam to increase exports to the US.

“A better way to look at it is to look at what the law is intended to achieve and then examine any competitive opportunities, especially in relation to the giant in the north, China,” said Mudd.
Vietnam’s knit and woven apparel industry was the largest export sector at $5.8 billion in 2010 to the US.