COPYRIGHT PROTECTION TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT OF OPENSOURCE PROGRAMMING IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Jul 17 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Implementation of measures aimed at
protection of copyright to licensed computer programs in Armenia
will also promote development of opensource programming based on the
open code.

Hovhannes Avoyan, the Chairman of the Union of Armenian Information
Technologies Enterprises, the Director General of the Sorsio company,
said in his interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent.

He explained that in difference to programming done inside one
company or by order, when the initial code is kept secret, during the
opensource programming, programs’ codes are publicized, which gives
the possibility to involve a great number of specialists in programs’
elaboration, to test the created programs by them.

In H. Avoyan’s words, currently, under conditions of lack of copyright
protection to programs products, programs products copied without
authors’ permission are sold at very cheap prices, because of which
neither licensed nor opensource program products are sold. The latter,
being not low-quality, is comparatively cheap. And in case of formation
of systems of protection of the above mentioned rights in Armenia,
consumers will have the possibility to choose between licensed and
opensource programs.

It was mentioned that rather big information technologies firms
start using the opensource program products. In H. Avoyan’s words,
many companies in Armenia use the opensource programs for commercial
purposes, creating additional programs on their basis. In particular,
program products created on the basis of the opensource programs
prevail in program products worked out for export. Many companies and
even individual programmers create web sites, web systems, and other
exported program products on the basis of the opensource programs.

H. Avoyan said that currently 60-70% of the world’s web sites use
opensource programs, Linux, Apache, and other systems. However, there
are few opensource programs in the personal computer’s software, and
mainly licensed programs are used there. According to the Chairman of
the Union of Armenian Information Technologies Enterprises, in case
of creation of equal conditions opensource will be used there, too.