Malaysian Exporters Asked To Take Heed Of US' New Unfair Competition Law

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysian businesses and manufacturers exporting to the United States have been asked to take heed of the recent Unfair Competition Act (UCA) relating to information technology (IT) passed in that country and to ensure legal IT infrastructures in business operations. Michael Mudd, Chief Representative of the Open Computing Alliance, said non-UCA compliant businesses would run into the risk of sales reduction, disruption to supply chain or legal consequences. He believes the new law, which came into force in Washington and Louisiana state on July 22, 2011, would likely be adopted in 39 US states and territories as representative Attorneys-General recently signed a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission asking for a similar law to be passed. The new law requires manufacturers to be fully IT-compliant, which means using only fully-licensed software in their operations, he told reporters after delivering a talk at a seminar entitled "New Laws Affecting Manufacturers Exporting to the USA" hosted by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade). He said the UCA was enforced within six months in the two US states, a clear indication that the new law was moving forward very fast to other states. On the impact to business volume for Malaysian businesses and manufacturers, Mudd said the United States would most likely see no reduction in business inflows or the US market would seek an alternative avenue. "It's a window for Malaysia right now to do this in advance to larger economies as the companies involved are most likely legally-compliant. "It's not something that you can say that you will deal with it tomorrow or later as the new law is there to remain," he said, adding that law-abiding companies would give them significant incentives to seek independent certification of their software assets and to work within the UCA. The United States, the fourth largest trading partner for Malaysia and an export market for Malaysian products, recorded exports totalling RM51.19 billion from January to October last year. Mudd also said the US was the world's single consumer market and it was still powerful though there was recession. He, however, said there were clear indications that the US' economy was improving and would be strong going forward. Meanwhile, Matrade director (electrical, electronics and ICT section) Sharimahton Mat Saleh said IT costs were substantial and the temptation to use cheap illegal software was always there. "However, we have to know that the additional costs of using illegal softwares are far more damaging and in turn will jeopardise your reputation and customer confidence in the long run," she said. She said Malaysian exporters must take note of the strict laws that are being enforced in the United States and manufacture products using good IT tenets, which was also a good marketing proposition as compared with competitors who ignored legal issues of the software used. -- BERNAMA