Company Charged with Using Pirated Software
12 November 2012
A company accused using pirated copies of computer software is the first involved in academic training to be charged with using pirated copies under Brunei’s intellectual property law, according to the Borneo Bulletin newspaper.
The company, EcoPrime Networks, had been charged under the countries' Copyright Order in Court early this month for using copies of unlicensed Microsoft software in their business operations, according to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
Microsoft recently began using legal means against vendors and businesses using illegal copies in Brunei after it determined a “soft” approach – using persuasion to educate the public, vendors and businesses on the risks of using illegal copies – did not work, said the newspaper.
“In this corner of the world, the whole piracy businesses from music to computer software is deeply rooted, widely available and generally accepted by the masses,” Azaraimy HH, a Borneo Bulletin reporter, wrote. “The situation in this country is serious and dire, where almost all copyright protected products sold in the market here are illegal. For instance, a music CD shop will have little trouble claiming to be doing a legal business and be proud of it.”
Brunei was added to the United States watch list of countries deemed to be the worst violators of intellectual copyright laws in 2009.
The newspaper reported that EcoPrime Networks was raided by the Commercial Crime Division of the Royal Brunei Police Force in September 2008, where about 90 computers and servers were seized as evidence and 200 copies of suspected infringing software were found.
