I’m going to share a short story with you that clearly demonstrates the obvious corruption and at times twisted behaviour that is endemic within Papua New Guinea. When folks talk about corruption they inevitably point their fingers at the halls of power in Port Moresby or the assemblies at Provincial level, they blame Politicians and bureaucrats, some point there finger at the Police or maybe even big business and of course the last few years the asians have copped it.
The four years that I have lived and worked in Papua New Guinea I have observed, studied and made an attempt at trying to understand where the source of this so called corruption lies. I say “so called” because in Melanesia things have always been done a little different to the West. I therefore use this word with a little caution out of respect for the tribal ways which inherently has the interests of ones own clan at heart.
Corruption is probably one of those broad terms that encompasses many different behaviours and actions. The story that I want to share with you now is about corruption as we understand it in the West and about an action that in my books warrants intervention and possible criminal prosecution.
The story involves a Doctor and a reputable PNG Computer Firm (one of the top five in the country). I’m sure you will understand why the names and faces (as the title of this post suggests) need to remain anonymous. (It’s definitely a candidate for the Secret Stash!)
Story goes as follows:
- Doctor goes to Port Moresby to attend to some personal business and whilst in the Nation’s capital decides to invest in a new laptop computer.
- Discusses with the salespeople a hardware and software specification for his new purchase.
- Whilst negotiating a price it is quietly suggested to the Doctor by one of the Salespeople that he can save approximately K1000 of the price by having all of the “software” installed under the counter (so to speak).
- The Doctor happily agrees.
- Store salespeople install illegal copies of Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007 and Virus Protection for a under the table fee of K500.
- Blokes in the store therefore make K500 on the side.
- Doctor thinks he made a smart deal but unfortunately ends up with a decent laptop but with software that is unlicensed and therefore illegal.
My thoughts on the above:
- The Doctors an idiot for thinking that he was getting a good deal.
- Wander how long before his Vista, Office and Virus Protection are rendered useless by Microsoft’s built in anti piracy smarts?
- How long have the lads in the Computer Store been earning a buck on the side?
- Are the owners of the store aware of what’s going on?
- What would happen to this reseller if Microsoft were informed?
- Open Source starts to make sense in this type of scenario!
- How long before the PNG Government start to crack down on and prosecute this type of illegal activity?
The bottom line:
- If you are set on running Microsoft Software then be prepared to pay. Note that all PC’s and laptops that I have owned personally have all had purchased and therefore legal copies of Microsoft and other software.
- If you are still fixated on not wanting to pay for software then you really should consider an Open Source option.
- Folks in the Information Systems Industry that distribute and/or deploy illegal software are a disgrace to the profession and clearly demonstrate that they cannot and should not be entrusted with an organisations second most important resource: Information. (An organisations most important resource of course are it’s people).
- If you still think that I’m talking a bunch a cogs wallop then download and read the “PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000″ which can be found in the Download section of my blog (courtesy PACLII)…
14. REPRODUCTIONS AND ADAPTIONS OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS.
(1) Notwithstanding Section 6(1)(a) and (c), the reproduction, in a single copy, or the adaptation of a computer program by the lawful owner of a copy of that computer program may be made without the authorization of the author or other owner of copyright, provided that the copy or adaptation is necessary:
(a) for use of the computer program with a computer for the purpose and extent for which the computer program has been obtained; or
(b) for archival purposes and for the replacement of the lawfully owned copy of the computer program in the event that the said copy of the computer program is lost, destroyed or rendered unusable.(2) No copy or adaptation of a computer program shall be used for any purposes other than those specified in Subsection (1), and any such copy or adaptation shall be destroyed in the event that the continued possession of the copy of the computer program ceases to be lawful.
On that same note, it’s very frustrating explaining to relatives who buy PC’s from a certain IT company that just because they have the Windows OS installed doesn’t mean they have the Office program installed. So we end up having to give them copies of Office because the IT company doesn’t explain that you are buying a PC with just the OS on it.
There was a good one in the Solomons – one of the (only) Internet service providers help desk techs used to disable a customers DNS settings (especially if they were a cashed up and no tech savvy customer). The customer would ring up complaining that the Internet didn’t work and the tech would offer to do some moonlighting on the side and come round after work and ‘fix’ their computer for $100. The only problem was, the computer would ‘break’ every couple of months, so the tech would have to come back around and fix it again (for a fee of course…).