Microsoft is accusing the Government of Israel and Israeli government companies in the defense sector of using pirate software, Jeffrey Steinhardt, Microsoft vice-president for anti-piracy operations in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, told "Globes" yesterday.
"Microsoft has received reports according to which Israeli government ministries and government defense companies use pirate software," he said. According to him, the company has commenced an indirect dialogue with Israeli government officials to bring about a change in the situation. Unlicensed software copies in the government sector were discovered in other countries last year.
In a conference sponsored by "Globes" and the Israel-US Science and Technology Commission, Steinhardt said that, in 1996, the damage to the international software industry from software piracy was $11.2 billion. Of this, Israel caused a loss of $77 million. It is estimated that 69% of the programs on the Israeli market are not originals, compared with 23% on the US market. However, in dollar terms, the damage from the US market is the highest.
Yesterday, deputy US ambassador to Israel Richard Roth warned Israel that Washington was examining transferring Israel to a stricter rating on the list of countries that infringe copyright. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that, at this stricter rating, Washington usually imposes commercial sanctions, including arbitrary increases in customs duties on imports from the offending country. A final decision will be taken at the end of next month.
In response, Minister of Industry and Trade Natan Sharansky told "Globes" that his ministry had received the US warning, and had requested a more precise indication of the Israeli bodies that were infringing copyright. He said that Israel treated the matter very seriously, and intended to do what was required to be removed completely from the US lists of copyright offenders.
"We intend to step up enforcement, and, if necessary, we will change the existing law. Talks on the matter are already being conducted with the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the possibility is being examined of holding a seminar with the US and other countries included on the list, to examine ways of curtailing the piracy phenomenon," Sharansky said.
The Ministry of Justice is currently busy preparing a draft memorandum for a new copyright bill. The preparation of the draft, in line with the Gabbai committee recommendations - a public committee that was charged with preparing a new copyright bill - is in its final stages. The new bill will include, inter alia, clauses to strengthen civil and criminal enforcement.
According to a Ministry of Justice senior official specialising in commercial and consumer matters, "The US and many European countries believe Israel does not do enough to prevent copyright and intellectual property infringements." He said that to a certain extent this constituted a breach of Israel’s international obligations, and if at least the initial steps of allocating police resources to the matter were not taken, those countries were liable to respond with the means at their disposal, such as commercial sanctions."
He said that Attorney General Eliyakim Rubinstein and State Attorney Edna Arbel believed everything should be done to step up enforcement in this area, both because of the economic damage from breaches of the law, and because of the signs that problematic types were becoming involved in infringements, including organised crime.
The Ministry of Defence said in response: "The ministry buys software according to proper, accepted procedures, and does not use pirated software."
Published by Israel's Business Arena March 23, 1998