Microsoft Partners Kenya Copyright Board To Tackle Piracy

 

Microsoft has signed a three year deal with the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) to conduct a joint raid and arrest organisations that are not using genuine software.

The partnership will enable them work together to activate continuous programmes and campaigns for educating the public on the risks and penalties associated with infringement of software copyrights and trademarks.

The three year deal will also see Microsoft support KECOBO to acquire the necessary skills and tools to assist in the fight against piracy and help to reduce software piracy as well as spur economic growth in Kenya. The two organizations will also invest in training of journalists, software reseller channels and government procurement managers in order to create awareness around the effects and dangers of pirated or counterfeit software.

“We want to educate Kenyans on the benefits of genuine software to businesses in terms of reliability and security as well as other associated risks for businesses and consumers when using counterfeit software,” KECOBO Executive Director Marisella Ouma said at the signing of the MoU.

Microsoft will deal with resellers that bring in the counterfeit softwares and also track individual who are using unlicensed software and put them to question.

Microsoft Kenya Country Manager, Kunle Awosika, Microsoft is losing billions to pirated software usage.

“Seventy-eight percent of Kenya is pirated, even if you reduce that to five percent, the impact of the economy will be huge, we are losing billions to this and it must now be addressed,” Awosika said.

“Millions of shillings are lost every year through pirated software in our markets. When Intellectual Property Rights are infringed, software developers and other creative authors, as well as entrepreneurs who rely on income from solutions they have created suffer immensely as they cannot earn from their work,” said Daniel Kamau, Microsoft’s Anti-piracy lead for the West, East and Central Africa Region added.