Malaysia Launches a program for Rats to stool on pirates!

[NewCardDude]

KUALA LUMPUR:

The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry warns there will be no let up in its current antipiracy crackdown, as antipiracy watchdog Business Software Alliance (BSA) lends more support by increasing the reward for piracy information.

The Ministry’s enforcement division deputy director-general of operations Zainal Abidin Mohd Noordin told a news conference last week that enforcement actions on companies suspected of using unlicensed software would continue “indefinitely.”

He said a total of 35 raids have been conducted since the June 1 deadline for companies to legalise any unlicensed software used in business, resulting in the seizures of 37 computers worth about RM112,000, and more than 247 copies of suspected illegal software with an estimated value of RM587,000.

Also at the conference, BSA announced the reward for any information leading to the successful enforcement action against any company suspected of using unlicensed software has been increased from the current RM20,000, to up to RM50,000 for the period of June 15 to July 16.

Ajay Advani, BSA Malaysia chairman said: “BSA applauds the Ministry’s tough stand on corporate software piracy and as a show of support for the Ministry’s efforts, we have increased the reward.”

He added that BSA hoped the move would not only encourage more people to come forward to report on corporate software piracy, but also “serve as a warning to companies that choose to ignore the Ministry’s tough stance.”

All reports can be made via the BSA antipiracy hotline at 1800-887-800, and will be treated with the strictest confidence, he said.

Following the October 2003 amendment to the Copyright Act (1987), an organisation found guilty of copyright infringement may be liable to a fine of between RM2,000 and RM20,000 for each infringing copy of software, while company directors face the same fine and up to five years in jail, or both.

[NewCardDude]

Bob Goodlatte



In the aftermath of 9/11 and the ensuing War on Terror, we find ourselves living in a changed world, marked by new threats.

Consistent with emerging threats to our security is growing evidence of the link between the sale of counterfeit consumer goods, in many cases pirated movies and music, and terrorist financing.

America is the largest creator, producer and exporter of copyrighted material. More new devices for watching, listening to, recording, sharing and saving music and movies have emerged in the last decade than in the previous 100 years. And these technologies are a key to American economic growth; indeed, the combined copyright industries - movies, home video and television programming, music, books, video games and software - generate more revenues than any other single manufacturing sector. They are responsible for more than five percent of the nation's GDP.

It is tempting to think of crime involving piracy or intellectual property theft as victimless, but this is simply untrue. Piracy denies those individuals who have invested in the creation and production of these goods their proper return, thereby undermining creativity and innovation and costing businesses hundred of billions of dollars every year.

The U.S. International Trade Commission calculates that counterfeiting and piracy caused industry losses of $450 billion in 2000, an increase of more than 400 percent since the early 1990s.

And now there is a growing link between piracy and organized crime.

Organized crime has become heavily involved in foreign DVD and CD piracy. Criminals are using the same formidable distribution network and means that were developed for drug trafficking and arms smuggling.

Evidence indicates that a diverse group of terrorist entities, including Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, derive income from piracy, ultimately using the money to fund everything from their lifestyles to their terrorist operations.

Faced with a crackdown on their traditional means of financing, evidence of our successful efforts to cut back their flow of funds, they are now turning to drug trafficking, credit-card fraud, counterfeiting and piracy.

A new report by Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, states that counterfeit goods and intellectual property piracy are "becoming the preferred method of funding for a number of terrorist groups."

Knowing of this growing economic and security threat, I led a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers last fall in launching the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, which is dedicated to working with America's international trade partners to secure the enactment of strong copyright laws and the vigilant enforcement of those laws.

A vibrant sector of the U.S. economy is at tremendous risk as is our own national security. I remain committed to ensuring that writers, musicians and other creators and distributors are compensated for the work that they do, and that consumers around the world are not unknowingly funding those who wish to do us harm.

[skeeta]

Would this tool in the US be called Alexa?ROFLMAO:D :D :D