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Game over, NBI tells users of illegal software

First posted 02:07am (Mla time) Sept 19, 2005
By Margaux C. Ortiz
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A23 of the Sept. 19, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


TIME'S UP.

That was the message of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to users of unauthorized computer software after the one-month grace period for them to buy legal programs expired last week.

"The users were given until Sept. 15 to get rid of their illegal software," NBI -Intellectual Property Division chief Jose Justo Yap said in a phone interview.

Yap added, "We will now be going after everyone engaged in computer piracy: from big companies to small business."

The Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team, made up of the NBI, the Optical Media Board, and the Philippine National Police, gave businesses 30 days to buy authorized computer programs before they start conducting operations against those engaged in the illegal selling and distribution of software.

Yap said the crackdown would include sellers of illegally reproduced software and businesses, especially computer rental shops that use unlicensed programs.

Violators face stiff fines and jail terms of as long as nine years.