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i got this letter from the pilipinas anti-piracy team (papt) just last week. i’m reproducing the content here:

october 17, 2007

mr. noel
it consultant

subject: alert on copyright infringement handling

1. reference: republic act 8293 — intellectual property code of the philippines
2. we have obtained evidence proving that recently there is widespread selling of pirated products in such forms as cd, dvd, vcd, cd-rom as well as pirated software usage of companies or corporations. we hereby inform you that violation of ra 8293 regarding copyright (”copyright law”) is subject to the following criminal sanctions:
   1. first offense — imprisonment of one (1) year to three (3) years and fine of fifty thousand pesos (p50,000) to one hundred fifty thousand pesos (p150,000).
   2. second offense — imprisonment of three (3) to six (6) years and fine of one hundred fifty thousand pesos (p150,000) to five hundred thousand pesos (p500,000).
   3. third and subsequent offenses — imprisonment of six (6) to nine (9) years and fine of five hundred thousand pesos (p500,000) to one million five hundred thousand pesos (p1,500,000).
   4. in all cases, subsidiary imprisonment in cases of insolvency.
3. with this warning, we hereby inform and encourage everyone to comply and use only legal license before we conduct the necessary law enforcement activities.
4. thank you for your attention.

signed:

atty. efren meneses
head of nbi-ipr division

atty. rosendo meneses, jd
executive director
optical media board

police director edgardo m. doromal
head of cidg
philippine national police

this is interesting because its something new for me. at first reading, it sounds like i’m being accused of buying and using pirated software and that the papt will visit the premises soon. but on second reading, it doesn’t.

well, i’m actually happy that the authorities are doing something about piracy. its all been media hype thus far. but if they do plan to visit then, “welcome.” they’ll see that not all companies use pirated software and that some use original software even though they’re expensive.

they’ll also find out that linux is slowly creeping into the corporate world.

entry posted on Saturday, 17 November 2007 and filed under software, stuff. you can follow any responses through the rss 2.0 feed. you can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.