Police target piracy rate
The Economic Crime Investigation Division of the Royal Thai Police aims to reduce the country's software-piracy rate among businesses and organisations from 73 per cent in 2011 to 70 per cent this year.
Pol Colonel Chainarong Charoenchainao, deputy commander of the ECID, said the division this year was focused on acting against companies and organisations that had acted contrary to laws governing intellectual-property rights and downloaded illegal software in their operations.
The ECID expects to move against about 2,000 companies and organisations nationwide.
“This year, we have direction to raid business organisations that violate software privacy both in [Greater] Bangkok and upcountry. We plan to raid and arrest [officials in] about 2,000 businesses and organisations in Samut Prakan, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat provinces in the near future,” Chianarong said.
“We aim to be No 1 in Asia in terms of the reduction of business-software piracy, [aiming to cut the rate] from 73 per cent to 70 per cent by the end of this year. Thailand is currently No 2 for the highest reduction rate, after Hong Kong.”
The official said that last year, 184 business organisations were found to have infringed on personal-computer software copyrights, representing a loss of Bt538.7 million to copyright owners. This compared with Bt472.5 million in 2010, when 158 businesses were raided.
Last year’s figure reflects a 14-per-cent increase in infringement value. The value could have been higher if it had not been for the flood situation, which resulted in a pause in raid activity, he said.
Forty-two of the 184 business organisations raided had assets of at least Bt100 million, while 15 had revenue in excess of Bt1 billion apiece.
During the past year, two US-owned business organisations were raided, representing a combined Bt1.6 million in infringement value.
