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by Dave Gradijan

Piracy Raid in Philippines Nets Software

News
Jul 14, 20062 mins
CSO and CISOData and Information Security

Authorities seized some 2 million Philippine pesos (US$38,421) worth of pirated computer software products in three separate raids in Olongapo City and nearby Bataan province, according to a report by the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team (PAPT).

Combined elements of the PAPT and the Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) conducted a raid of computer shops Power Station Computer Services inside MCS Building, along Magsaysay Drive in Olongapo; and the Sky Jersey and Santol-Paguia Computer World Plus, both in Bataan.

The said shops were caught replicating unlicensed software programs.

Police confiscated equipment used in producing bootlegged copies of some software programs such as Microsoft Windows and Office. Hundreds of CDs containing pirated software programs were also seized in the raids.

Nabbed are store owners Norlee Paguia of Sky Jersey and Joanne Ruiz-Soyangco of Santol Paguia Computer World Plus for copyright infringement charges. They were detained at the CIDG office in Manila.

The raids are part of the government’s Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team, a campaign aimed at fighting software piracy in the Philippines. The team is composed of representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation, the Optical Media Board and the Philippine National Police.

Illegal copying and sale of counterfeit software is a violation of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, which includes penalties of up to nine years imprisonment and a fine of up to 1.5 million Philippine pesos.

By Computerworld Philippines staff

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