<strong>by Rod Hughes</strong>

Commerce officials for the U.S. government have given the approval to changes in the copyright law currently under consideration by the Legislative Assembly. The bill would give stiff fines and even jail time to those who falsify products and pass off works of art or literature as their own. The law includes piracy of such creations as software.

The bill is one of 13 reforms to bring Costa Rican law into accord with provision of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States. The approval of these laws has been an uphill struggle for the Arias Administration that has the thin two-thirds coalition majority to approve them against stubborn opposition of the Citizen Action Party (PAC) bloc of deputies, plus a few scattered minority party members.

Although President Arias had to ask other signers of the trade pact for an extension of the approval deadline, one by one the laws have gone through. One of the most controversial, to open the telecommunications market previously monopolized by the government company ICE, was signed by President Oscar Arias last week. Few expected the copyright law to run into trouble, but it has proven to be a tough struggle for the lawmakers.

The trouble has been basically the condemning to jail time of violators of the law. As with much of the Third World, Costa Rica’s legislation has been lax and piracy of software has cost such companies as Microsoft millions as Ticos blithely rip off the big companies under a traditional "they can afford it" attitude. (An estimated 80% of software used here consists of unauthorized copies.) The first draft of the bill troubled many legislators who considered up to six years in prison or stiff fines excessive and even cruel punishment.

The pro-CAFTA Libertarian Party bloc has been especially troubled by the 3-6-year penalty and the stiff fines. These proponents of minimalist government consider the penalty "disproportionate." The five-member Libertarian bloc huddled yesterday with CAFTA negotiator Fernando Ocampo who assured them that other signers of the treaty had passed laws specifying <em>both </em>fines <em>and </em>jail time. Since this bill is "either one or the other" in this aspect, Ocampo told the lawmakers that the sentences had to be high in order to act as a deterrant and to properly balance the high fines.

Perhaps an unrecognized problem is the Tico distrust of laws that give too much discretion to judges. As with the traffic bull currently in committee, this law gives a wide leeway to judges in choosing fine or jail depending on the gravity of the violation.