771 CDs, 4 computers seized in major crackdown
By Saad Ahmad

RAWALPINDI—In the latest initiative of nationwide crackdown on software pirates, two computer suppliers were arrested here in Satellite Town for possessing unlicensed software in the course of running their business.
A total of 771 pirated CDs and four computers loaded with unlicensed software were also confiscated during the police raid, which was undertaken with the technical assistance provided by Business Software Alliance (BSA), a group of world's leading software companies.
The seized software worth hundreds of thousands of rupees belonged to various BSA embers including Adobe, Macromedia, Microsoft and Symantec, said Co-chairman BSA, Middle East, Al Redha.
BSA will continue to ensure compliance amongst all the businesses with regards to the illegal software, he said. "If your company is using or selling pirated software you are taking an unnecessary risk of being raided by the police," he cautioned.
Al Redha said, software piracy has become a worldwide problem threatening the IT industry, so it needs to be addressed urgently.
In fact software piracy is just another form of theft and a criminal offence, which robs the country's IT industry of thousands of jobs, millions in wages, tax revenues and critical investments in new technologies. "No industry can tolerate such a high rate of theft," he stressed. Al Redha said the BSA applauds and supports the government's initiative to crackdown on the sale and use of pirated software.
"We will continue to work with the law enforcement agencies to help reduce the rate of piracy in Pakistan."
He said companies should be aware that using pirated software does not simply mean using an illegal piece of software bought from the unauthorised vendors.
The indiscriminate copying from an original or licensed CD also comes under an act of piracy. "Similarly when you ask your computer supplier to sell you a computer that is fully loaded with illegal software programmes and you use that software for your business without paying for it, you are also committing an offence under the copyright law."
The BSA is the voice of the world's leading software developers before governments and with consumers in the international marketplace.
BSA educates computer users on software copyrights; advocates public policy that fosters innovation and expands trade opportunities and fights software piracy. BSA's worldwide members include Adobe, Apple Computers, AutoDesk, Bentley Systems, Corel Corporation, Macromedia, Microsoft, Network Associates and Symantec.