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[News] Vietnam Gets Ripped for Using Microsoft (and Notes on US Lobbying)

Vietnam is to pay billions of dollars for software copyrights

,----[  ]
| If office software such as Windows and Office is used, the total
| amount for 6 million PCs will be 3 billion USD (600 million x 500 USD).
| And the government may have to pay about 1 billion USD to buy
| software copyrights for its 2 million employees.
`----

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2007/02/667146/


Vietnam wants to use Linux.

Open-source software offers affordable option

,----[ Quote ]
| Reducing the widespread use of pirated software in Viet Nam will be
| an uphill struggle because of the high costs of legal software
| products, according to industry experts.
| 
| But if shop owners, government offices and local consumers adopt
| open-source software -- which is essentially free -- piracy could fall 
| dramatically, they added.
| 
| [...]
| 
| The government may in the future set up a unit within the Department
| of Post and Telematics that would assist consumers in the use of
| open-source software.
`----

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02BUS220107


But there's a lot of lobbying and 'funny business', e.g.:

Vietnam Praised for Economic Reforms

,----[ Quote ]
| "Vietnam has demonstrated to the world its capacity for quantum leaps,"
| said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for
| Microsoft Corp.
| 
| "It's clear that the government has recognized that broad-based
| reform and economic liberalization are essential to Vietnam's
| integration into the global economy," Mundie said.
| 
| [...]
| 
| The summit has brought fresh opportunities, with Vietnam signing
| two deals with U.S. companies worth $1.5 billion.
`----

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061116/apec_ceo_summit.html?.v=2


Vietnam's Communist Party gets help from Intel

,----[ Quote ]
| The Communist Party's decision to use open-source software matches a
| wider Vietnamese government effort. In 2004, the government announced
| plans to promote the use of open-source software in a bid to reduce its
| IT costs and promote the development of the local software industry.
`---- 

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/25/HNvietnamintel_1.html?source=rss&url=www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/25/HNvietnamintel_1.html
http://tinyurl.com/zz3s8


Intel Raises Vietnam's High-Tech Profile

,----[ Quote ]
| The latest Intel news, which follows an initial announcement in February
| to invest $300 million in the factory, comes as Vietnam is working hard
| to convince foreign companies to put their trust in a country many
| still equate with war and poverty.
| 
| It also is trying to overcome a reputation as one of the region's
| worst violators of intellectual property rights. Vietnam has the
| highest percentage of pirated software in Asia, with copies of
| Microsoft Corp. operating systems available on the street for
| a couple dollars.
| 
| [...]
| 
| While the country remains a staunch one-party system, the
| communist government is opening up and pushing for economic reforms
| that will lead to a market economy. Vietnam's fledgling high-tech
| sector also got a boost in April when Microsoft Chairman Bill
| Gates visited and was treated like a rock star by hundreds of
| cheering technology students.
| 
| [...]
| 
| "This is a very positive development, which will help to boost
| information technology industry in Vietnam in general and the
| software industry in particular," said Tran Doan Kim,
| administrative head of Vietnam Software Association, or Vinasa.
| "Vietnam's IT industry badly needs investment from a major
| foreign investor like Intel or Microsoft."
`----

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061117/vietnam_intel.html?.v=2

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