MORE than 20 businesses were raided for using unlicensed software in the first weeks of this year, with offices operating in Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Ratchaburi being the focus of police operations after evidence was collected confirming use of unlicensed copies of Autodesk, Dassault Systemes, Microsoft and Thai Software Enterprise products.

The largest raid was conducted against a company in the real-estate industry, with 30 personal computers being used by staff for business operations, all loaded with suspected unlicensed software, including some made by Thai developers.

The second-largest raid was against a company with French and Hong Kong-based shareholders in Chon Buri.

The police Economic Crime Division (ECD) has vowed to keep up the pressure on businesses using unlicensed software. According to International Data Corporation, 71 per cent of software loaded on to PCs in Thailand in 2013 was unlicensed.

“We are enforcing the rule of law and protecting software developers’ copyrights,” said ECD acting commander Pol Colonel Sorraruk Choosanit.

“Use of unlicensed software is a form of theft, particularly when businesses with large incomes avoid paying for legitimate and licensed software. Thai software companies are among those hurt by software piracy.

SOURCE: nationmultimedia.com