Our (small/medium-sized) company just got a letter from NBI [below]. I assume it is part of a mass mailing. Did anyone else get it? It seems the NBI is now the one doing the warning, not BSA or Microsoft anymore. I wonder how they get company addresses for their mailing database.
Anyway, my comment is that a mass mailing like this could have been a good opportunity to mention the option of free software, so people would at least get an idea that there is such an alternative. But there was no such mention. Opportunity lost. I wish the FOSS-advocating part of the government (who might that be: ASTI? DOST?) could influence the police part of the government to add just one sentence to their anti-piracy campaigns, mentioning the possibility of using free software. I guess the commercial software lobby is the only influence on the police part right now. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dear XXX; Please read this letter carefully as it may affect your company's future. The use of software illegally has become rampant within businesses. For your information, software copyright is infringed whenever a company uses or reproduces software without a license from the affected software company. This is also known as end user piracy. Using a software program without a proper license can lead to criminal charges and civil action. The use of software illegally is a criminal offense that has harmful effects on our economy. It hampers the growth of our IT sector and inhibits foreign investors from doing business in our country. It also causes losses in income for many companies, jobs for thousands of Filipinos, and tax revenues for the government. In 1996, the NBI IPR Division was established to more actively go after violators of our IP Laws including those that infringe software copyright. To date, we have: 1,042 search warrants served; 1,233 cases of piracy and counterfeiting filed; and 89 pending cases. The NBI is committed to combating end-user software piracy by investigating violators and where necessary, effecting arrests, searches and seizures in accordance with the law. Software infringers risk both imprisonment and a fine for their acts. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE FREE FROM PIRATED PRODUCTS BY ENSURING THAT EACH OF YOUR SOFTWARE PROGRAMS IS PROPERLY LICENSED. TAKE TIME OUT TO AUDIT YOUR SOFTWARE. DISCARD AND REMOVE ALL PIRATED SOFTWARE. All forms of intellectual property, be it music, movies, books or software, deserve to be respected and protected to help boost economic growth. Let's work together to eradicate piracy in our country! Very truly yours, By authority of NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco: (Signed) Rafael Z. Ragos Head, IPR Division of NBI __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
