My country's (Pak .pk) piracy made it to the INQ

[rupert86]

Pirates given a month to pack in Pakisthana

Optimistic alliteration

By Nick Farrell: Tuesday 30 November 2004, 08:50

THE ANTI PIRATING body called the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has declared a month’s truce for companies using Pirated software in Pakisthana.

The group, which I think has had minimal success in tackling piracy in the country, has offered companies a month to get their software licensing shipshape and Bristol fashion.

Afterwards, it will be ‘no more Mr Nice Guy’.

The BSA says that if companies using pirated software install legit software they will not be targeted with police raids, legal action or penalties.

Otherwise the BSA will take "legal action" against the businesses and organisations using unauthorised software after the truce ends on December 30. We don't know how successful it will be in the North West Frontier. The rule of law doesn't appear to run there.

The BSA is the enforcer for the likes of Adobe, Apple, AutoDesk, Compaq, IBM, Intel, Macromedia, Microsoft and Symantec. It also looks after some UK software companies, of which there are essentially two, the Cambridge based Autonomy, and Geordie company Sage Software.

It is a moot point how affective such a carrot and stick approach would be. Not only is Pakisthana a great user of pirated software, according to the BSA, it is a key exporter. Pakistan now exports tens of millions of pirate CDs across the world. It is one of the largest sources of pirate disks in the world, reckons the BSA. µ

Anyway I don't think this will ever happen. Although the main centre of piracy here is Karachi & not the NWFP (North West Frontier Province - wonder why they couldn't come up with a smaller name ) but how can BSA control the piracy when the big boys out there can buy the whole police force by bribe?

Uncomprehensible. Can somebody explain it?

Yes they tried it about a year ago but they only caught 3 trucks full of 14,000 - 20,000 CDs each, and then? All pause. Rumour was that the police had eaten 'their share' and an excuse be made to the foreigners that we are short of police personnel. (That we are really short of: That is, nearly all of our provincial ministers have at least 3 patrol vanettes in their motorcade, and whenever 'our' president Pervez Musharraf - whom we prefer to call Musallat - which means enforced on us against our will - comes to Karachi the 1,100,000 city is put into curfew, traffic stopped at all intersections etc. for complete 8 hours, and a policeman and paramilitary person at every 50 ft.). So how would they make 'those police raids'?

Somebody help me understand this. Somebody tell me how is it possible? IMHO this is paper-talk and lip-service.

[prathapml]

Piracy happens all across the globe.

It can't be stamped out unless all of us get together to support a legalising drive.

But no, most large companies offer mere platitudes to anti-piracy, but won't do anything to really eliminate it. Because they are afraid that then ppl will run to their competitor or open-source.