Crackdown on pirated software-Thailand
Submitted by adocthailand on Mon, 2008-05-19 10:34.
Officers from the Ecotec division of the Royal Thai Police recently carried out raids at IT malls across the capital, as part of the continued fight against counterfeit and unlicensed software in Thailand.
Although piracy is typically associated with the selling of counterfeit products such as copied CDs or DVDs, it is now also alarmingly common for hardware to be pre-installed with unlicensed software before it is sold to an end-user, according to police.
Common malpractices among vendors included hard-disk loading or the reproduction of unauthorised programs on computers that were then often falsely advertised as fully licenced, encouraging customers to unwittingly purchase illegal goods, putting themselves or their businesses at risk, the police spokesman told Database.
A survey commissioned by Microsoft last year revealed that 97 per cent of system builders in major IT malls in Bangkok are guilty of 'hard disk loading'- the practice of installing pirated or unlicensed software on a PC. At the time of the survey, only three per cent of software vendors at Panthip Plaza, Zeer Rangsit Mall and Fortune Mall offered PCs pre-installed with genuine Microsoft products.
The crack-down followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Association of Thai Software Industry (ATSI) last month to step up enforcement of copyright laws and to create awareness of the damage that software piracy does to the economy. The agreement followed the publication of an IDC survey that claims that a 10 per cent drop in the piracy rate over the next four years would result in 2,100 new jobs here. Such a reduction would also make a $1 billion (31.6 billion baht) contribution to Thailand's GDP, providing $470 million (14.8 billion baht) in revenue to local vendors and $55 million (1.74 billion baht) in new tax revenues.
Sponsored by the BSA, the IDC survey spanned 42 countries, 11 of which are in Asia, and was based on PC software only. BSA Asia marketing director Roland Chan said that IDC reported that the IT sector in Thailand was worth $4 billion (126 billion baht), supported 5,600 IT businesses employing 40,500 IT workers and generating $428 million (13.5 billion baht) in taxes.
Under the MoU, the BSA was to also provide software asset management resources to ATCI members and Chan said last month that the BSA was working with the government here to try to escalate messaging about enforcement actions as well as in creating awareness of intellectual property rights.
BNGKOK POST
Although piracy is typically associated with the selling of counterfeit products such as copied CDs or DVDs, it is now also alarmingly common for hardware to be pre-installed with unlicensed software before it is sold to an end-user, according to police.
Common malpractices among vendors included hard-disk loading or the reproduction of unauthorised programs on computers that were then often falsely advertised as fully licenced, encouraging customers to unwittingly purchase illegal goods, putting themselves or their businesses at risk, the police spokesman told Database.
A survey commissioned by Microsoft last year revealed that 97 per cent of system builders in major IT malls in Bangkok are guilty of 'hard disk loading'- the practice of installing pirated or unlicensed software on a PC. At the time of the survey, only three per cent of software vendors at Panthip Plaza, Zeer Rangsit Mall and Fortune Mall offered PCs pre-installed with genuine Microsoft products.
The crack-down followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Association of Thai Software Industry (ATSI) last month to step up enforcement of copyright laws and to create awareness of the damage that software piracy does to the economy. The agreement followed the publication of an IDC survey that claims that a 10 per cent drop in the piracy rate over the next four years would result in 2,100 new jobs here. Such a reduction would also make a $1 billion (31.6 billion baht) contribution to Thailand's GDP, providing $470 million (14.8 billion baht) in revenue to local vendors and $55 million (1.74 billion baht) in new tax revenues.
Sponsored by the BSA, the IDC survey spanned 42 countries, 11 of which are in Asia, and was based on PC software only. BSA Asia marketing director Roland Chan said that IDC reported that the IT sector in Thailand was worth $4 billion (126 billion baht), supported 5,600 IT businesses employing 40,500 IT workers and generating $428 million (13.5 billion baht) in taxes.
Under the MoU, the BSA was to also provide software asset management resources to ATCI members and Chan said last month that the BSA was working with the government here to try to escalate messaging about enforcement actions as well as in creating awareness of intellectual property rights.
BNGKOK POST
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Thailand
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