Anti-piracy inspections resume

CEBU, Philippines – The Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team has resumed random inspections of Internet cafés, schools and other business establishments in the city and the rest of the country to ensure that businesses using legitimate computer softwares.

The team, composed of personnel from the National Bureau of Investigation, Optical Media Board, and Philippine National Police, will be checking on the proper licenses of computer softwares used these establishments.

The anti-piracy campaign, dubbed as “Don’t wait until it’s too late!,” was launched for establishments to strictly comply with software copyright laws.

The campaign kicked off with letters, flyers and phone calls to advise establishments to ensure the legitimacy of their computer softwares.

Atty. Rosendo Meneses, executive director of OMB, said there is no reason for the businesses not to have complied with the notices. Those that would still fail to comply, however, may face corresponding penalties for violating the law.

“Hindi kami nandito para manakit,”Meneses said, adding, the campaign is done mainly to fight software piracy in the country.

One of the supporters of the campaign, Atty. Bien Marquez, said 69 percent of businesses in the Philippines allegedly use unlicensed softwares. In the previous years, the number even reportedly reached 75 percent.

IP Coalition Chairman Jun Rodriguez also said the Philippines has already been removed from the priority watch list but the ultimate goal is to completely remove the country even from the ordinary list.

Software piracy is said to have hurt the Philippine economy and have caused large losses in the software and information technology industry.

PAPT has already conducted a total of 123 raids since 2005 wherein P300 million worth of computers and softwares have been seized for using pirated softwares. Twelve of these raids were conducted in Cebu. — A.J. A de la Torre/JMO (THE FREEMAN)