Opening Remarks by Ms Liew Woon Yin at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Grand Ballroom, Level 4

Opening Remarks by Ms Liew Woon Yin, Director-General, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore at the IPOS IP Task Force and Bsa Sam Seminar on Thursday, 10 March 2005 at 9.10 a.m, at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Grand Ballroom, Level 4

Mr. Jeffrey Hardee, Asia Pacific Vice President and Regional Director of the Business Software Alliance

Ladies and gentlemen

A very good morning to each and every one of you.

Welcome to our first software asset management (SAM) seminar for 2005. It is indeed gratifying to see such a large turnout for today’s seminar. This is evidence that our call for local businesses to get engaged on intellectual property (IP) issues has not gone unnoticed.
2004 was a very eventful year for all of us to say the least. From the landmark handover of Prime Ministership, to having a more engaged and active citizenry and most recently the unprecedented outpouring of compassion and aid for victims of the Asian tsunamis, we have indeed grown together as a nation.
In the economic sphere too, we have also been making strong recovery. Our efforts at restructuring our economy into one based more on knowledge and innovation is bearing fruit. In recent months, we read of our increasing technology licensing revenues over the past three years. (*In the 2003 R&D survey conducted by A*Star, the data collected shows that the licensing revenue from patents and new technologies developed in Singapore went up from $55.2 million in 2001, to $87.5 million in 2002 and to $132.4 million in 2003.)
More of our companies are investing in branding and going international. Names like Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, Eu Yan Sang International Ltd, Raffles International Hotels and Resorts, Sin Hwa Dee Foodstuffs Industries, Breadtalk and 77th street come to mind.
Our copyright based industries e.g. IT, media and the creative arts are also steadily growing in stature. A recent EDB report released on 10 January this year showed that Singapore is currently Asia’s top location for CD and DVD content replication. Top international firms, such as Lucasfilms, Pure Energy Corp and Niit Technologies are also investing in Singapore. All these bear good testimony to the trust that we have engendered in our strong IP protection regime.
And we will continue to work at it. At IPOS, we have spared no efforts in the last few years to reach out to both the businesses and consumers on the importance of IP. In 2004 especially, Singapore has seen a major update of its IP regime to ensure that the right legal framework and environment exists for IP rich industries to flourish. We have also mounted extensive outreach programmes to help affected sectors better cope with new legal landscape. IPOS has been actively engaging businesses through the IP Taskforce, public seminars, and industry roundtables ahead of changes to be made to Singapore’s new copyright laws.
As an example of one of our initiatives, last year in July, we launched a “Say No to Piracy” campaign aimed at both business and consumer audiences.
We also looked at practical ways to help companies prepare, and in October last year, we announced the Software Licensing Programme, an initiative where ten leading software companies such as Adobe, Autodesk, Borland, Macromedia, Microsoft and Symantec for a limited time made available software with discounts of up to 40 per cent to help Singapore businesses, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises, prepare for the new IP legislation.
And, in January this year, we launched the first-ever IP Seminar for Retailers to help local retailers understand the new Copyright legislation and how they can help consumers support original.
Some of you may be aware that on 31 January this year, the HIP Alliance, which is the flagship public awareness initiative of IPOS, launched a ten-minute educational video entitled “Copy Not Right”.
“Copy Not Right” was specially produced to educate office workers on some of the best practices on day-to-day usage of copyrighted materials in the work environment. I hope you enjoyed the video earlier.
Just like the “Copy Not Right” video, today’s SAM seminar is aimed at helping and educating businesses on IP. Because of our small domestic market, for the business sector, deep knowledge of IP is imperative. You will need to put in your best attack and defence strategies as you compete in the global setting.
One key defence strategy is in the safe deployment of software assets. With the coming into force on 1 January this year of the new criminal sanctions in the Copyright Act for willful and significant infringement especially in a business context, there is added impetus to manage the risks associated with the use of software in the course of business. Software non-compliance in the business environment, whether through under-licensing or use of unauthorized software can result in criminal penalties. Businesses should also be aware that copyright holders are also at liberty to take civil action against the copyright infringers.
It is crucial that businesses like yourselves play your part in protecting IP, and to help promote creativity and innovation. You can do your part by using only legal and licensed software. IPOS strongly advocates SAM as a means for you to ensure that you are aligned with Singapore’s new IP landscape.
On this note, I would like to leave you with our speakers this morning. We have with us my colleague from IPOS, Mrs. Tan Lee Li Choon, who will tell you what your business should know about the amendments to the copyright law. We also have with us Mr. Jimmy Wu from Deloitte & Touche, who will share with you details on how to implement SAM in your organisation.
Finally, on behalf of the BSA and the IPOS IP Task Force members, I would like to thank all of you for being here, and I wish all of you a very fruitful and informative seminar. Thank you.