SOFTWARE PIRACY
A "severe crackdown" against businesses suspected of engaging in the installation and use of illegal software by the Economic and Cyber Crime Division (Ecotec) will begin in mid-October.
A Business Software Alliance (BSA) representative said that the association, which represents the interests of large software publishers worldwide, had asked Ecotec to take action against software copyright infringers in the business sector.
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| From left to right, Pol. Col. Sarayuth Pooltanya, Deputy Commander of Economic and Technical Crimes Suppression Division (ECOTEC), Tarun Sawney, Director of Anti-Piracy Asia, Business Software Alliance (BSA), Pol. Maj.Gen. Kovit Wogrungroch, Commander of ECOTEC and Pol. Col. Kittipong Visetsanguan, Superintendent of ECOTEC. |
Speaking to journalists last week, Ecotec deputy commander Pol Col Sarayuth Pooltanya said actions had been brought during the first half of this year against many businesses for alleged violations of copyright laws. "Thus far it has been a strong first half for software anti-piracy," he said.
"But we see the second half of the year as being even stronger, starting with severe legal actions which begin on October 15."
In announcing the proposed crackdown, Pol Col Sarayuth said: "here is a strong reminder to the business community of the need to operate within the confines of the law. The installation and use of unlicensed and pirated software simply has to stop."
While praising the benefits from the use of original and licensed software such as increased productivity and enhanced security, Pol Col Sarayuth said "the bottom line is that we will not hesitate to uphold the laws of the country against business organisations as well as their executives by pressing for deterrent sentencing including steep fines and jail terms for the guilty."
The promised crackdown follows a recent move by the BSA to double rewards to up to 500,000 baht for reports on software copyright violations in businesses that lead to a successful enforcement action.
BSA has also collaborated with the Department of Intellectual Property in helping to educate the Thai business community about the copyright law and methods for identifying the copyrighted software for a certain period of time.
BSA regional anti-piracy director Tarun Sawney said that even software developed by Thai companies was among the most often counterfeited by businesses here. "This is a 30-day warning for the business community to respect the intellectual property rights of software developers," he said last week.
The BSA suggests that businesses should undertake a process known as software asset management (SAM) that will enable clear scrutiny of software assets.
An IDC Study on the Economic Benefits of Reducing PC Software Piracy released in January predicted that a 10 percentage point reduction in Thailand's PC software piracy rate would generate 2,100 new jobs, an additional US$1 billion (approximately 34.5 billion baht) in economic growth and more than $55 million (approximately 1.898 billion baht) in additional annual tax revenue.
Between January and August this year, police raided 39 companies from numerous industries, including manufacturing, design, automotive component production, plastics and packaging.
More information about the campaign can be found at http://www.stop.in.th or http://www.bsa.org.
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