(08-12-2006)

HCM CITY — Thirty computer processing units containing unauthorised software applications were confiscated on Tuesday at the My Duc Ceramics company in HCM City’s district 10 by inspectors from the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Estimated value of the software programmes Lac Viet Dictionary, Vietkey, WinZip, Symantec Antivirus and Microsoft Office was VND1.5 billion (around US$90,300).

"Our company has already drawn up a plan to buy original software programmes early next year, and we have signed the contracts," Tran Thi Ngoc Diem, My Duc’s marketing executive, told Viet Nam News.

The inspection was conducted jointly with the Ministry of Public Security’s Hi-tech Crime Prevention Department. The raid, the first of its kind targeting corporate-end users infringing software copyright in HCM City, demonstrated the increasing visibility of the Government’s Nationwide Anti-Software Piracy Campaign begun this year in Ha Noi and HCM City.

An October raid conducted in Ha Noi found 42 PCs installed with pirated software at the Daewoo – Hanel Electronics company.

The government fined the electronics company VND15 million ($930), sending a clear signal to the business community that the use of unlicensed or pirated software in a commercial enterprise would not be tolerated.

A draft law on copyright violations has proposed that the fines for intellectual property violations be raised from the current level of VND30 million (nearly $2,000) to VND100 million ($6,200), or five times the commercial value of the violation.

Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Culture and Information, Vu Xuan Thanh, has said enforcement will continue to be conducted regularly to protect the local software industry and encourage foreign investment. — VNS