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Posted in Asia, Cablegate, Free/Libre Software at 2:10 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: US diplomatic cables from Sri Lanka reveal interesting stories about the small country’s flirtations with freedom-respecting software
According to the following Cablegate cables (first one in ¶7): “During a March 22 meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce, DAS Patterson outlined USG views on regional developments of the past two years and asked for insights into the current domestic political situation and business climate. IBM Managing Director and former Amcham President, Kavan Ratnayaka described IBM efforts to support open source software development, noting that Sri Lanka has become an internationally recognized “brand” in the open source community.”
IBM is right because here in Techrights we accumulated many examples of Free software in Sri Lanka. But just like in Thailand, there is a fight back from Microsoft proxies. Let us remember that “[w]hen the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami seriously damaged the coastline of Sri Lanka, Virtusa funded salaries and benefits for its employees as they developed open-source software for disaster relief management. It continues to fund its employees as they travel to disaster-affected countries and assist in implementing the software program.” (see cables below)
=> accumulated many examples of Free software in Sri Lanka | in Thailand
The BSA (Business Software Alliance) is not happy with the country’s embrace of Free software. Here is what the BSA says according to cables: “While we see this as a step in the right direction, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) is not fully satisfied with the policy and accuses the government of “more funny business.””
=> ↺ Business Software Alliance
So when a country seeks digital independence, that is “funny business” in the eyes of the BSA. Good to know. Perhaps the BSA does not speak for FOSS like it claims to. Here are three Cablegate cables from which we extract the evidence:
=> like it claims to | ↺ Cablegate
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000545
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT
DEPARTMENT PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC
NSC FOR E. MILLARD
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03-26-14
TAGS: PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs], PREL [External Political Relations], ECON [Economic Conditions],
PTER [Terrorists and Terrorism], CE [Sri Lanka], LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] - Peace Process, Elections, ECONOMICS
SUBJECT: In visit to Sri Lanka, SA DAS Patterson
discusses April 2 elections, plus peace and economy
Refs: Colombo 515, and previous
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b, d).
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: SA DAS Torkel Patterson visited
Colombo, March 21-23. Highlights of the visit included
meetings at the MFA, with a key adviser to President
Kumaratunga, with local diplomats, and with local
business leaders, including the American Chamber of
Commerce. Key issues discussed included the April 2
parliamentary elections, the peace process, and the
economic situation. The visit served to underscore
continued high-level USG engagement with Sri Lanka
during this sensitive timeframe. END SUMMARY.
MFA Meetings
¶2. (C) Deputy Assistant Secretary for South Asian
Affairs Torkel Patterson visited Colombo, March 21-23.
On March 22, DAS Patterson and Ambassador Lunstead held
separate meetings with Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando
and Foreign Secretary Bernard Goonetilleke. Patterson
and the Ambassador used both meetings to review CHR
priorities, including the Cuba and China draft
resolutions, and the Iraq situation (see Reftels). In a
brief discussion regarding Sri Lanka's April 2
parliamentary elections, Goonetilleke remarked that he
felt that voter turnout might be lower this time around
due to voter dissatisfaction with the two major parties.
Foreign Minister Fernando claimed that the campaign of
his United National Party (UNP) was getting a good
response among younger voters, but admitted that
confidence in the UNP on economic issues among "the
average voter" was low.
Meeting with Key Presidential Adviser
¶3. (C) On March 22, DAS Patterson and Ambassador also
met with Lakshman Kadirgamar, former foreign minister
and a key adviser to President Kumaratunga. Asked for
his views on the election campaign, Kadirgamar seemed
confident that Kumaratunga's "United People's Freedom
Alliance" (UPFA) would do well. There had not been much
violence so far in the campaign, he related. He
thought, however, that there could be some post-election
violence. President Kumaratunga was prepared to deal
with any such incidents, he said. Queried re the split
in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (see
Reftels), Kadirgamar thought there was some prospect of
reconciliation between breakaway eastern rebel leader
Karuna and Tiger leader V. Prabhakaran. That said, any
possible reconciliation would likely take place after
the April 2 election, as would any possible armed
conflict between the two sides. DAS Patterson noted the
degree of control the GSL had over Sri Lanka's media.
Kadirgamar, who is currently the Minister of Media and
Communications, agreed that the state-run media outlets
were quite influential. There had been attempts to
reform the situation in the past, but they had all
failed. (Per Reftels, the Ambassador also raised the
issue of the fabrication of results of a poll in
government-controlled newspapers on March 20. The poll
had been partially financed by USAID. Kadirgamar said
he would look into the matter.)
Dinner with Local Diplomats
¶4. (C) DAS Patterson also attended a March 22 dinner at
the Ambassador's residence with local diplomats,
including those from Norway, the UK, the EU,
Netherlands, and Canada. The natural focus of
conversation was the upcoming parliamentary election.
The overall feeling at the dinner was that it was not
precisely clear how the political situation was playing
out. That said, most agreed that the President's UPFA
grouping had gotten off to a fast start and was probably
ahead at this point in the race. Prime Minister
Wickremesinghe's UNP had gotten off to a very slow
start, but its campaign was getting more active.
Norwegian Ambassador Brattskar noted that the anti-peace
process JHU party -- in an unprecedented move -- was
running an all-Buddhist monk candidate slate, and might
pick up between 2-5 seats in Parliament. It was not
clear whether the JHU's support would come from voters
who might have supported the UPFA, or would come from
voters who were dissatisfied with the two major parties
and were looking for other alternatives. Regarding the
LTTE split, there was widespread agreement that the main
LTTE organization would probably wait until after the
April 2 election to try to displace Karuna via an armed
attack or by trying to entice Karuna's supporters away
from him.
Commerce Ministry Meeting
¶5. (C) Secretary of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
Harsha Wickramasinghe and Director General of Trade K.J.
Weerasinghe updated DAS Patterson March 22 on current
political activities, GSL positions in the WTO, and
progress in BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri
Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation) and SAFTA
(South Asia Free Trade Agreement) talks. Wickramasinghe
discussed UNP election tactics designed to discredit the
JVP's stance that it is a credible political party, by
highlighting its brutal past actions. He also noted
that the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had said
they would not ally with the United People's Freedom
Alliance (UPFA), but would hold out for as much as they
could get from the UNP.
¶6. (C) On WTO issues, Weerasinghe promised that the GSL
Representative in Geneva would support USG positions on
UNCTAD and on food aid issues. The GSL is now busy
finalizing its proposals for accession to the
Information Technology Agreement, fulfilling a
commitment made during the last round of TIFA talks.
Wickramasinghe mentioned that he saw BIMST-EC as an
important bridge between SAARC and ASEAN, and as a tool
to open up Myanmar's trade regime. Weerasinghe bemoaned
the multiplicity of bi- and multi-lateral trade regimes,
and noted the need for convergence.
AMCHAM Roundtable
¶7. (U) During a March 22 meeting with members of the
American Chamber of Commerce, DAS Patterson outlined USG
views on regional developments of the past two years and
asked for insights into the current domestic political
situation and business climate. IBM Managing Director
and former Amcham President, Kavan Ratnayaka described
IBM efforts to support open source software development,
noting that Sri Lanka has become an internationally
recognized "brand" in the open source community.
¶8. (SBU) Amcham Director Graetian Gunawardene, whose
company manufactures Samsonite luggage, noted that the
export sector has been driving growth and employment.
He asked specifically for DAS Patterson's support in
pushing for a U.S.-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
and in returning U.S. visa validity to 5 years. (Note:
We are discussing possible changes in our visa
reciprocity schedule with the GSL.) Noting that Sri
Lanka has a long democratic tradition, even through some
very difficult times, Gunawardene suggested there should
be closer U.S.-Sri Lanka commercial ties to match their
shared democratic ideals. Patterson promised to review
FTA issues when he got back to Washington, and urged
the Amcham to consult with the GSL's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to promote a review of the reciprocity issues
that have led to the limited validity of U.S. visas for
Sri Lankans.
¶9. (C) On the current political situation, optimism
about the future mixed with concerns about short-term
political realities. Ratnayaka (a longtime UNP
supporter whose family is close to the Prime Minister)
raised concerns about the opposition's ability to move
forward on the peace process due to the LTTE's lack of
trust in the President. Others in the group, including
Citibank CEO Kapila Jayawardena, thought the LTTE would
look closely at who wins the April 2 election and would
be willing to deal with whichever party wins, assuming
that party has the intention of negotiating a workable
solution. Outgoing Energizer Managing Director Sunil de
Alwis commented that Sri Lanka remains an attractive
place to do business. He mentioned Energizer's new USD
2 million investment, which upgraded its manufacturing
facility and improved Energizer's ability to meet
increased domestic demand and a potential export market
into India as well. Citibank and Energizer reps said
their Sri Lankan operations are leading performers in
their respective companies. Jayawardene noted that
American companies tend to do well in Sri Lanka.
Citibank's own return-on-equity in Sri Lanka is over 50
percent, the best in Asia.
COMMENT
¶10. (C) As the many threads laid out above indicate,
this is a very sensitive timeframe for Sri Lankans, who
have deep worries about the future of the peace process
and the economy. These overall concerns are fed by
specific worries over the unstable pre- and post-
election period, over what the radical JVP might due in
power if the UPFA wins, over what the LTTE split means
for the peace process, etc. Given this complex, fluid,
situation, DAS Patterson's visit was reassuring to Sri
Lankans, who deeply appreciate continued high-level USG
engagement in support of the peace process. END
COMMENT.
¶11. (U) DAS Patterson was not able to clear on this
message before departing Post.
¶12. (U) Minimize considered.
LUNSTEAD
Cable II:
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000851
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EEB/EPPD NSMITH-NISSLEY AND SCA/INS
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER
MCC FOR S. GROFF, D. TETER, D. NASSIRY AND E. BURKE
TREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL
GENEVA PASS USTR
FOR EEB ASSISTANT SECRETARY SULLIVAN FROM AMBASSADOR BLAKE
E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], BEXP [Trade Expansion and Promotion], ETRD [Foreign Trade],
ELAB [Labor Sector Affairs], KSEP, SENV [Environmental Affairs], AMGT [Management Operations], CE [Sri Lanka]
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA - NOMINATION OF VIRTUSA FOR CORPORATE EXCELLENCE
AWARD
REF: STATE 47222
¶1. I am pleased to nominate Virtusa for the Secretary's Award for
Corporate Excellence in the small and medium enterprise category.
While meeting all eligibility requirements for this award, Virtusa
has demonstrated outstanding corporate citizenship by assisting
disaster-ridden countries with an open source disaster recovery
management system it developed following the 2004 tsunami which
struck Sri Lanka and other Indian Ocean countries. Virtusa also
contributed to the advancement of Sri Lanka's scientific and
technology policies by enhancing information and communications
technology (IT) capacity in local universities. Finally, by
creating an intensive training program which converts unemployed but
motivated graduates without sufficient IT training into IT managers,
Virtusa is directly contributing to Sri Lanka's overall growth and
development.
OUSTANDING CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP: VIRTUSA-SPONSORED SYSTEM SPEEDS
RECOVERY FOLLOWING DISASTERS
¶2. When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami seriously damaged the
coastline of Sri Lanka, Virtusa funded salaries and benefits for its
employees as they developed open-source software for disaster relief
management. It continues to fund its employees as they travel to
disaster-affected countries and assist in implementing the software
program.
¶3. The system, called Sahana, was initially designed for Sri Lanka
to have a good disaster recovery system following the tsunami. It
has been widely used in recent disasters, including Pakistan
following its 2005 earthquake, the Philippines following its 2006
mudslide in Southern Leyte, and Indonesia following the Yogjakarta
earthquake of 2006. The software has received several awards,
including the Free Software Foundation's 2006 Award for Social
Benefit, the 2006 Good Samaritan Award from Software 2006. Sahana is
now managed by the non-profit Lanka Software Foundation. In
addition to Virtusa's continued support through its personnel,
Sahana receives funding from IBM and the U.S. National Science
Foundation.
CONTRIBUTING TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SRI LANKA'S SCIENTIFIC AND
TECHNICAL POLICIES: ENHANCING UNIVERSITIES; ENLIGHTENING STUDENTS
WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
¶4. Sri Lanka has identified IT as a potential growth sector, and is
actively encouraging its development. Hundreds of "Virtusans" have
volunteered their time and skills over the past few years to create
IT awareness within communities and share best practices with
academia. In 2006, the company introduced information technology to
over 700 students in a southern district of Sri Lanka, donated a
computer lab to a Colombo-based school, provided career guidance and
leadership skills to thousands of undergraduate and advanced level
students, and contributed to fostering free and open software
education in Sri Lanka.
¶5. Virtusa supplies staff to universities to serve as
lecturers/trainers. It shares industry best practices with
university staff and invites them to Virtusa for special seminars.
Through Virtusa's Project Enhancement Initiative, university
undergraduates receive software engineering and management guidance.
All of these activities promote the importance of IT to Sri
Lankans, furthering Sri Lanka's prospects for growth in the IT
sector.
CONTRIBUTING TO OVERALL ECONOMIC GROWTH: TRANSITIONING
PROFESSIONALS FROM OVERSUBSCRIBED PROFESSIONS INTO INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY THROUGH TRAINING
¶6. As Sri Lanka's IT industry continues to grow, the country's
shortage of IT workers becomes increasingly critical. Universities
still have not adapted sufficiently to meet the demands of the IT
sector. In 2006, Virtusa implemented a dynamic IT Leadership
COLOMBO 00000851 002 OF 002
Conversion Program to help resolve this shortage. The company
identifies self-driven, high-aptitude graduates who do not have
sufficient IT skills. It then provides these individuals with a
fast-track career conversion opportunity enabling them to make the
transition into an IT services career.
¶7. The company has hired 30 successful Virtusa IT Conversion
Program graduates from the 40 it trained. It plans to double the
number of Conversion Program candidates this year, enabling Sri
Lanka to meet a greater demand in the growing IT sector.
BLAKE
Cable III:
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000063
SIPDIS
TREASURY FOR USTR MICHAEL DELANEY;
COMMERCE FOR USPTO KRISTINE SCHLEGELMILCH
DEPARTMENT FOR EEB/TPP/IPE JOELLEN URBAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2020
TAGS: KIPR [Intellectual Property Rights], ECON [Economic Conditions], PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs], CE [Sri Lanka]
SUBJECT: IPR PROTECTION IN SRI LANKA: BAD, BUT IMPROVING
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Valerie Fowler for Reasons 1.4 (
B) and (D).
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Sri Lanka's intellectual property rights
regime is good on paper but lax on enforcement. Still, since
the passage of comprehensive legislation in 2003, things have
slowly been improving. The Embassy, American Chamber of
Commerce, Business Software Alliance, a cadre of specialized
law firms, and a number of government offices have worked
hard to increase awareness and provide much-needed training
for judges, police, and investigators. While much remains to
be done, new and ongoing initiatives should reduce the amount
of pirated and fake items available in the marketplace. END
SUMMARY.
BACKGROUND
¶2. (U) Sri Lanka's intellectual property rights (IPR) regime
is, like that of many emerging economies, good on paper but
lax on enforcement. The country enacted a comprehensive IPR
law in 2003 that governs copyrights and related rights,
industrial designs, patents, trademarks and service marks,
trade names, layout designs of integrated circuits,
geographical indications, unfair competition, databases,
computer programs, and undisclosed information. Infringement
of intellectual property rights is a punishable offense under
the law and falls under both criminal and civil courts of
jurisdiction in Sri Lanka. Recourse available to owners
includes injunctive relief, seizure and destruction of
infringing goods and plates or implements used for the making
of copies, and the prohibition of imports and exports.
Penalties for the first offense include a prison sentence of
6 months or a fine of up to Rs 500,000 ($4,425). Penalties
can be doubled for a second offense.
¶3. (C) Since the passage of the 2003 IPR law Sri Lanka has
slowly begun enforcing its provisions. However, counterfeit
goods continue to be widely available. Local agents of
well-known U.S. and other international companies
representing recording, software, movie, clothing and
consumer product industries continue to complain that the
lack of IPR protection is damaging their businesses. Piracy
of sound recordings and software is widespread, making it
difficult for the legitimate industries to protect their
market and realize their potential in Sri Lanka. The Police
occasionally raid stores selling counterfeit goods --
especially garments. However, it is rare for the Police to
act without a formal complaint and assistance from an
aggrieved party. Several offenders have been charged or
convicted by courts. A leading anti-piracy lawyer, Sudath
Perera, told EconOff that his firm has successfully conducted
several raids in Colombo in 2008-2009. In January 2010,
police and the law firm (representing the rights holders)
recently raided two outlets in Colombo selling counterfeit
garments and stationary.
SOFTWARE PIRACY
¶4. (SBU) Software companies complain of the lack of IPR
enforcement within government institutions and even some
larger corporations, including several banks. According to a
survey commissioned by the Business Software Alliance (BSA)
and conducted by the IDC, a leading global IT market research
firm, software piracy in Sri Lanka is as high as 90 percent.
Sri Lanka,s software companies and the Sri Lankan
Association for Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM)
dispute the findings of the study, questioning the sampling
methodology used by the IDC. However, both organizations
have bottom-line reasons to publicly doubt the study. For
example, SLASSCOM's members worry the bad publicity could
cause potential clients to go elsewhere due to the high
piracy rate. ICTA, in collaboration with the SLASSCOM, is
planning to commission an independent IPR survey covering a
sample of about 5,000 companies.
¶5. (SBU) Sri Lankan government officials in charge of IPR
protection acknowledge there is a high software piracy rate
COLOMBO 00000063 002.4 OF 002
in the government. The government and industry leaders are
taking various actions to improve IPR protection in the
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. In
December 2009, the government of Sri Lanka approved a new
Information Technology (IT) policy for the government sector
which includes rules on hardware and software procurement.
When the new policy will be implemented is not known. Under
the new policy, the government will issue IT procurement
guidelines requiring all government agencies to stick to
licensed software or open-source software. If the cost of
licensed software or maintenance and consultancy fees of
open-source software is higher than proprietary software, the
government will provide additional funds to purchase
proprietary software.
¶6. (C) While we see this as a step in the right direction,
the Business Software Alliance (BSA) is not fully satisfied
with the policy and accuses the government of "more funny
business." Shalini Ratwatte, BSA's local consultant, told
EconOff that she sees it as a push for open source software.
However, she acknowledged that pricing is an issue. For
instance, global software producers are not willing to offer
discounted prices to Sri Lanka (as they do in mass markets
such as India). They argue that Sri Lanka, although a
developing country, does not offer economies of scale to
justify discounts. Nevertheless, BSA is contemplating
starting IPR awareness programs for senior Sri Lanka
government officials covered by the new procurement policy.
OTHER PROGRESS AND PROGRAMS
¶7. (U) Post,s recent efforts focus on IPR protection in the
ICT sector. In a bid to support the ICT sector, Post teamed
up with BSA to hold an IPR awareness program for the Sri
Lanka Police on January 8. The U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and
Training (USDOJ/OPDAT) and Business Software Alliance
provided funds for this workshop. Approximately 45 police
officers from the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) of
the Sri Lanka Police participated. The program focused on
the importance of IPR to the economy, elements of IPR law,
and investigating and prosecuting IP cases. Industry
representatives from pharmaceutical, software, and electrical
product industries provided technical information about
product identification. At the conclusion of the seminar,
participants from the CID requested continued training on IPR
awareness and education and more involvement from the
industry.
¶8. (U) Demonstrating a positive trend, well-known vendors of
branded laptops and computer systems now advertize that their
products come "only with licensed software." Previously,
laptop and desktop computers were sold without any reference
to software and the sellers and users freely copied software.
Furthermore, Dr. D.M. Karunaratne, Director of the National
IP office, informed EconOff that a World Intellectual
Property Office,s (WIPO) intellectual property academy will
soon be established in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has been chosen
for this academy as a pilot project. Earlier, WIPO carried
out a successful pilot project on WIPO outreach programs in
Sri Lanka.
COMMENT
¶9. (SBU) The end of the war gives an opportunity to refocus
efforts on IPR enforcement. The Embassy, the USPTO regional
office in New Delhi, AMCHAM and BSA are working to pursue
more aggressive enforcement and enhance public awareness, and
require the active cooperation of the National IP office of
Sri Lanka. Upcoming training programs in the first quarter
of 2010 for law enforcement agencies include USPTO-sponsored
training programs for the Attorney General,s Office and Sri
Lanka Customs, and an AMCHAM/BSA sponsored training program
for magistrates in the Central, North Central, Eastern and
Northern Provinces, ensuring that magistrates from all nine
of Sri Lanka's provinces receive training.
BUTENIS
Those propaganda workshops are indirectly funded by the likes of Microsoft. To quote, “recent efforts focus on IPR protection in the ICT sector. In a bid to support the ICT sector, Post teamed up with BSA to hold an IPR awareness program for the Sri Lanka Police on January 8. The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (USDOJ/OPDAT) and Business Software Alliance provided funds for this workshop.”
And who provides funds for the BSA? Follow the money. █
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