Judgment in software piracy case welcomed
The Business Software Alliance, a grouping of the world's most important software and internet houses, has praised a recent judgment by Malta's magistrates' court which convicted the director of a company who was distributing pirated software on...
The Business Software Alliance, a grouping of the world's most important software and internet houses, has praised a recent judgment by Malta's magistrates' court which convicted the director of a company who was distributing pirated software on computers sold by his company. He was given a one-year jail term suspended for four years.
The BSA said this was "a milestone" in the fight against software theft in Malta.
"The judgment is proof that Malta is making great efforts to combat the escalating problem of piracy on the island," said Aly Harakeh, BSA Eastern Mediterranean representative.
"We are very pleased with the outcome of this case especially when one considers that the court sentenced the accused to the full imprisonment sentence which it could give by law for copyright violations."
The BSA said that although the software piracy rate in Malta had been decreasing slowly since 1995, when it recorded a 77 per cent high, it saw no cause for complacency.
The Maltese rate of 53 per cent meant that over Lm1 million were robbed from the country's (tax) revenues and the rate was way too high compared to the EU average of 37 per cent.
"We urge the Maltese government to take bold measures to combat the high piracy problem in Malta through tougher legislation," Mr Harakeh said. "We, at the BSA have pledged to continue working to educate consumers and organisations that piracy is theft and infringement of intellectual rights."
"The distribution of unlicensed or pirated computer software creates a serious problem for the software developers and companies in Malta have a legal obligation to ensure that all of the computers sold by their establishment are accompanied by licensed and genuine computer software products," he added.
The BSA members include Adobe, Apple Computer, AutoDesk, Bentley Systems, Borland, CNC Software/Mastercam, Dell, Entrust, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Macromedia, Microsoft, Network Associates, Novell, Sybase, Symantec and Unigraphics Solutions (EDS).