The law requires that manufacturers and exporters use only legal IT – licensed hardware and software - in all their commercial activities.   It applies to all countries that export products to US markets even if those exports are merely components of finished products.

Under this new law, any manufacturer or exporter to the US using pirated software would face a host of problems once their violations were discovered.  The law is designed to prevent one company from gaining a cost advantage over another by using stolen IT.   This is good news for those companies in Thailand whose corporate governance bans use of pirated software.  No longer will they face unfair competition from companies in Thailand or overseas that use pirated software to reduce their operating costs.

As a software developer and IT consultancy, we have always we have urged companies we do business with to use only fully licensed software assets from the very beginning.  By using pirated software, companies expose their computer systems to a host of viruses, malware and security risks, and is responsible for poor performance.  On top of that, using pirated software raises ethical issues among employees and legal risks among law enforcement authorities.

In our experience, those companies in Thailand using licensed software receive a great value.   Almost all companies today use software extensively to make their businesses more productive.   Complaints about pricing are irrelevant when looked at how often the software is used and how much value it delivers.  And for any company that doesn’t want to invest in the convenience and efficiency of genuine software, there are other legal options.

Respectable companies respect others’ IP rights.  There is no legitimate reason for companies to risk damaging their reputation and expose themselves to unnecessary – and costly - risks of using pirated software.

The recent Department of Intellectual Property announcement that they plan to strengthen law enforcement against piracy and enhance support for innovation in Thailand is good news for both established and aspiring innovators as well as investors.  Countries prefer to trade with countries that respect IP rights.  With plans for the ASEAN community to come together in 2015, Thailand will be better positioned itself as an innovation haven by increasing legal software use and giving more respect and protection to software IP rights.

Yes, the unveiling of the new Unfair Competition Act provides more incentive for businesses in Thailand and around the world to use legal IT.  But the best incentive of all is that respecting software intellectual property rights will unleash innovations right here at home.  For a variety of reasons, now is the time to legalize software assets.  Seize this opportunity before it is too late.