A report appearing in the Economic Times on APR 12, 2012 indicated that the US states of Washington and Louisiana have passed a new competition law that says only those manufacturers who can provide proof of using genuine hardware and licensed software for their business should be allowed to export to the country. An Indian industry lobby has expressed concern over this law. While the law has been passed by these two states attorney generals of 39 other states have signed a resolution to combat unfair practices in manufacturing by preventing the use of illegal unlicensed software. This, they say, provides unfair advantage in the market place. The law aims at preventing unfair competition between IT compliant manufacturers and the non-compliant competing ones, who use illegal IT, knowingly or unknowingly.
According to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) this could have serious implications for Indian exporters using pirated software. The usage of IT in manufacturing is increasing by leaps as bounds. This is definitely needed to drive efficiency, productivity and competitiveness. Is this usage well-managed or regulated within companies? Certainly not in all cases. Many, if not most, Indian manufacturers are typically focussed on product lines leading to issues of non-compliance and unfair competition market conditions.
These points were brought out at a workshop organised by FICCI in cooperation with other business organisations. The purpose of the workshop was to sensitise people from industry. It was attended by representatives from chemicals, garments, textiles, steel, automotive, electronics, engineering industries.
It is high time Indian manufacturers comply with the laws governing intellectual property and not scream non-tariff barriers every time such laws are passed.
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