KARACHI- The police raided three shops here at the Uni Plaza in Mithadar and seized brand new computers loaded with illegal software besides, arresting the owners. Now, they face closure, criminal record and fines under the copyright laws of the country, said a Business Software Alliance (BSA) spokesman.
The BSA has asked all buyers to assist on getting documentary proof of legality of the software installed on the hard disks, else they may face uncalled-for risks too.
The spokesman has again requested all computer software vendors to sell new computers, both branded and non-branded with legal software. “The sale of illegally copied software will seriously damage the financial health and reputation of the owner of the computer shops,” the spokesman said and added, “the sale and purchase of pirated software is against the copyright laws of the country.
The ongoing raids, the spokesman said, will continue as these are a part the operation to reduce the use of pirated software in the country to more jobs and revenues for the government exchequer. The USA is the representative body of worlds leading software companies across the world and is working to minimize the use of illegal software to strengthen the IT market globally, he said.
The BSA worldwide members (include Adobe, Attachmate, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, Corel Corporation, Filemaker (Europe), Inprise (Asia), Lotus Development, Macromedia (Asia), Microsoft, Network Associates, Novell, Symantec and Visio. The additional members of BSA’s Policy Council include Apple Computer, Compaq, IBM, Intel, Intuit and Sybase.
The BSA believes the software industry is losing billions of dollars teach year to software piracy. And the unauthorized distribution or copying of software for personal or organizational use is not only theft of another company’s rightful property, but also its incentive to create and produce.
“Moreover, such harmful effects reach well beyond the publisher, threatening every link of the distribution chain,” the spokesman said and added, “BSA’s mission is to help the world’s governments legislation, enforce, and educate piracy eradication, allowing the life enhancing benefits of technology to such and enrich us all.”
Source: Business Recorder
Date:12/6/2000
