03 January 2012

Nehru Place: A beehive for software piracy

Nearly half the world's personal computers use software that is pirated. In India, it's worse. Only about one-third of the software sold is genuine, according to Business Software Alliance (BSA), a trade group representing some of the largest software makers, includingMicrosoft and Adobe.

If the numbers remain alarmist, you only need to visit the country's largest technology market,Nehru Place in New Delhi. Its notoriety as a haven of software piracy was articulated by the US last month and it's easy to see why. At first glance, a first-time visitor to Nehru Place might feel misguided. There's nothing technology about it.

Street hawkers swamp the two main lanes alongside rows of shops, selling fake branded clothes, watches, shoes, utility items, and what have you. Cut through them to reach the stores selling computers, tablets, smart phones and just about any kind of software. But even before you can enter any of them, 19-year-old Inder Kumar, boyish and street-smart, accosts with a seven-page catalogue.

It's literally an A to Z of software, from Adobe to Z-Brush (a digital art software ). And he promises to sell them, at prices cheaper than a pair of boxers . He is all mouth even as his eyes dart around for cops and flying squads from Microsoft.

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