Taking Action

Dec 06, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lankan police found pirated software worth 7.5 million rupees in raids on an 'international group of companies' as part of a crackdown on software piracy, a statement said. Shalini Ratwatte, consultant, Business Software Alliance, said intellectual property protection "is vital for building investor confidence and supporting the growth of legitimate local business." The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a software group, said the raided firm, which it did not identify, had been suspected of infringing the intellectual property rights of the BSA members.

"Amongst the pirated and unlicensed software found included those from Adobe, Autodesk and Microsoft," it said.

"The use of pirated and unlicensed software in businesses is a criminal offense under the Intellectual Property Law No.36 of 2003."

The raids were done by the Anti-Piracy & Counterfeit Unit recently established at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sri Lanka Police.

Police seized over 30 computers, installed with suspected pirated business software which are to be produced in court.

œThe police will be committed to protecting intellectual property rights, and will not he