Cracking up, cracking down.

A story in the English-language Vietnam News had me laughing into my ninth glass of tra da the other day. It seems a sweep by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism uncovered pirated software in use at a French-run architectural firm in Hanoi.

Who was leading the raid? Claude Rains? Vietnam’s piracy rates have topped 90 percent for the past several years, according to the killjoys at the Business Software Alliance. Having lived here for a little while now, the only thing that surprises me about this figure is that ten percent of people are actually using real, licensed versions. Where do they get them? As far as I can tell, it’s not possible to buy a legal CD, DVD, or piece of software here, even if you really, really wanted to. I wouldn’t know where to look. English-language books, shoes, clothes, electronics, almost the same thing.

But there is, as they say, more to the story. Apparently this crackdown is at least sorta for real. As Vietnam’s economy continues to grow, there’s mounting pressure to clean things up, especially considering a tech industry is starting to develop (Intel is currently building a $300 million semiconductor plant here in Ho Chi Minh City.) In fact, the Vietnam News article claims that in the past year Vietnam has fallen out of the top 12 pirate nations, after years as number one.

What’s next? A motorcycle helmet law?

Yes. One is going into effect in December in HCMC. Vietnam, I hardly recognize you anymore.