Software piracy tally hits Bt100M
By The Nation

Thirty companies in Thailand have been accused of software infringement this year worth a combined Bt100 million, the Economic and Technological Crime Suppression Division (Ecotec) reported yesterday.

Police Colonel Sarayut Pultunya, Ecotec deputy commander, said the unit would continue working closely with the Business Software Alliance (BSA) to coordinate the flow of information on infringement activities.

"Reaching the Bt100-million threshold demonstrates that we are working hard to track down companies that are violating Thailand's copyright laws, but we have much more work to do to stamp out software piracy," Sarayut said.

Before the end of the year, Ecotec plans to conduct raids around the country, with dozens of companies shortlisted for inspection.

"We look forward to continued success in protecting the intellectual property rights of software developers," said BSA spokesperson Siripat Patrangul.

According to Thailand's copyright laws, executives of com-panies found running pirated software are subject to a fine of between Bt100,000 and Bt800,000 and/or a jail term from six months to four years.

The BSA's anti-piracy director for Asia, Tarun Sawney, said t the alliance, working very closely with Ecotec, had achieved notable successes in cracking down on companies using illegal software.

The latest global software piracy study commissioned by the BSA from market researcher IDC indicated that illegal software use in Thailand had fallen by 2 per cent to 78 per cent, while the average in the Asia-Pacific was 59 per cent.

An IDC economic impact study released this year found that reducing computer software piracy in Thailand by 10 percentage points in four years could create 2,100 new jobs, Bt30 billion in economic growth and Bt1.65 billion in additional tax revenues above current projections.