Power, price and copyright

FOR Pacific island computer users power is not a question of geopoli tics but the often dispairing battle of keeping systems up in the face of power failure, storms, dirty power or generators which won’t do their job. A spate of recent blackouts and brown outs in Honiara over recent weeks really tested both users stress levels and back up power systems. It also promoted a re-look at equipment and backup strategies.

Sola Bacis of Australia distribute a range of UPS models suitable for power ing single PC’s to small clusters of computers. With Sola Equipment its a case of more is better than bigger as due to the technology employed the efficiency of units beyond 1.5 KVA falls off as the units get larger. Extra batteries can be added but with frequent power outs problems may be encountered in bring ing banks of batteries too full charge

quickly. Sola equipment is dependable and generally of good quality even if a little old fashioned.

Living Image from Adelaide, Australia has announced a range of new UPS equipment boasting totally new technology. Living Image claim new charging, monitoring and frequency management technology will offer not only full UPS but also efficient power filtering.

The units span from 300 VA to 600 VA and are light weight and may be installed on a desk top. Claimed to offer fast or continuous charge the Living Image UPS range is expensive by comparison with Sola equipment.

Planning for power outages is a lot like planning a visit to the dentist. The event is unpleasant, precautions are expensive (but not as costly as neglecting planning) and the discipline required is character building.

Clean power is a must, it’s not enough to plan only to back up supply. Spikes or dips in the voltage or frequency can cause problems. In buying UPS equipment make sure it offers frequency management and effective filtering as well as adequate back up power.

Speed of recharging and the capabilities of batteries to cycle through charge, discharge, charge and add on equipment for networks such as Novell network monitoring is another must to check. Unless UPS units are left on line you will lose data in a powerout.

Regular backing up and saving to the harddisk where long documents or large batches are involved should be done frequently. If you don’t you know what will happen. When you are on the last line of a fifty page document and you haven’t saved it “pop” and there goes a days work!

An efficient UPS can be cost justified in even sites where power is clean and powerouts rare and of course no critical system should omit power management from their manage ment strategy.

Microsoft Australia recently announced a new special pricing contract with the Queensland Government that allows Government Agencies to purchase Microsoft products at volume discount prices. Prices for some Microsoft products are up to fifty percent off list price making this a very attractive option for government buyers. The contract is being administered by the Queensland Government Infor mation Technology conditions (GITC) Services Unit.

Unit Manager Col Clapper said this was the first such agreement in Australia and was being closely watched by other state governments and Federal computer buyers. When asked by PIM if regional govern ments could also purchase from GITC Clapper responded by saying each case would have to be assessed on its merits and negotiated with the agreement of Microsoft. Tony Webber acting managing director of Microsoft Australia when asked by PIM said his major concern was copyright protection and that pro vided regional governments could provide adequate safeguards he saw governments negotiating with GITC Queensland as a good deal for Microsoft and those governments.

Given that Microsoft is now the largest software manufacture serving

the PC market, especially in the Pacific with a very wide range of packages and technology, including Windows and Windows NT user of all products can expect to see a real slugging match as firms such as Borland and Lotus fight to keep their market share.

Winners are grinners and users will laugh all the way to the bank as the price war hots up.

The recent PIM interview with Webber has highlighted a dilemma facing software companies, suppliers and users in the Pacific islands.

Manufacturers and suppliers are generally unhappy that full software copyright protection is not afforded at the same level in all Pacific nations. Some offer full protection backed by adequate legislation and reciprocal agreements in other nations software piracy reigns unchecked. On the face of it, and ethical considerations aside, there are some personal benefits for users in using pirated software. It’s cheap or free, you can get it quickly and you can build a collection of software that is the envy of your friends. The bad news is it’s illegal, unethical and in the long run costly. Legitimate suppliers won’t support you. Every illegal copy made is another brick in the wall that will keep you out of the worlds industry mainstream and when now and upgraded products are released your purloined software locks you out of licensed upgrades.

Computer software is a tool. There is no difference between illegally copying software and stealing a lathe, drill or bulldozer. Software companies agree it’s time for regional governments to follow the lead of Taiwan, Hong Kong.

Singapore and the Philippines governments. Get tough with software pirates, confiscate illegal products, toughen copy right law and enter into reciprocal agreements with other nations.

Until this occurs computer users in countries with lax copyrights law will not enjoy the market opportunities for software enjoyed by the rest of the world as suppliers will stay away in droves or add a costly premium to the price of their products. □