Police to Investigate 1,000 Companies for Software Copyright Infringement
Major Crackdown to begin October 26
BANGKOK, September 30, 2009—Thai police authorities announced today that they have commenced investigations into 1,000 companies for potential software copyright infringement in a lead up to a nationwide drive to reduce software license violations by corporate end-users.
Officers from the Economic and Cyber Crime Division say that the 1,000 investigations are being conducted based on information that companies have violated the Thai Copyright Act. Information has come from a collection of tips, some anonymous, typically from sources within the targeted companies. Leads are also being shared by the Business Software Alliance, who run a toll-free hotline number as well as a website for informants to report on the use of pirated and unlicensed software in businesses. Other software developers also provide police officials with leads and tips about potential offenders. Once police officials receive evidence of software copyright infringement from software developers, they review the evidence and verify the information. Next, police officials obtain search warrants and then conduct raids of company premises.
On October 26, 2009 the police will commence raids based on results of the investigations.
“Business organizations will have to ensure that they are compliant with the Thai Copyright Act,” said Police Colonel Sarayuth Pooltanya, deputy commander of the Economic and Cyber Crime Division (ECD). “On October 26 we will begin major efforts aimed at raiding companies based on our information about software piracy taking place within these companies.”
In recent months, the ECD has stepped up enforcement of software intellectual property rights.
August, 2009, marked one of the ECD’s most successful months, with 15 substantial raids netting 54.5 million baht worth of infringed software. Raided companies came from a wide variety of industries and hold a wide variety of ownership structures. Manufacturing, real estate, automotive, shipping, design and engineering are among the industries of companies raided in August. In addition to numerous Thai-owned enterprises, companies with foreign ownership were also raided for software copyright infringement.
“The only thing that companies we investigate and raid have in common is that they are violating the Thai Copyright Act with regard to software piracy,” said Police Colonel Sarayuth.
Officials from the ECD are not projecting results from the 1,000 investigations nor the impending raids. But they do say that their intention is to reduce the software piracy rate on an annual basis so as to bring Thailand’s piracy rate of 76 percent into line with international averages.
In Asia-Pacific the software piracy rate is 61 percent.
In Thailand, company directors are liable for violation on the Thai Copyright Act. They face up to four years in jail and fines up to 800,000 Thai baht.
In addition, counterfeit software is increasingly becoming a vehicle for the distribution of viruses and malware that can target unsuspecting users, potentially exposing them to identity theft and corruption or loss of personal or business data.
About the ECD
The Economic and Cyber Crime Division is a police force tasked with enforcement of the Thai Copyright Act. The ECD receives search warrants and conducts raids for software piracy on a weekly basis. Companies that do not comply with the licensing agreements for their software assets are open to police actions by the ECD.
