FINANCE MINISTER Vassos Shiarly yesterday called on businesses not to use unlicensed or pirated software, arguing that it hurts information technology (IT) businesses, tax revenue and job creation.
The Finance Ministry and Business Software Alliance (BSA) held a joint press conference yesterday on the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights of computer software.
According to a 2011 study by BSA on global software piracy, 48 per cent of computer users in Cyprus use unlicensed or pirated software, equating to €14m in losses for software providers.
Speaking at the event yesterday, Shiarly said Cyprus was also contributing to the Europe-wide effort to clamp down on software piracy, by informing businesses and the public on the importance of legal use of software in the workplace.
“Copying legal work without the consent of the creator, apart from the fact that it discourages creative people who dedicate time and money to research and development, also deprives the state of revenue since this illegality leads to tax evasion, and a reduction in jobs in research and IT,” said Shiarly.
In an effort to encourage growth and job creation through research and development, parliament passed an tax amendment law last May, giving incentives to high-tech companies to invest in research and development, such as low tax rates ( up to 2 per cent) and exemptions.
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK have also adopted similar measures to encourage innovative high-tech companies to stay in Europe and attract others from outside the EU-bloc to set up offices in Europe, thereby increasing investment and jobs.
“Our obligation is to protect the intellectual property of these companies so they feel secure in the European market,” said the minister, noting that legal use of software benefited the state, economy and labour market, reducing unemployment and creating growth through research and development.