The Anti-Piracy Campaign And The I-Café Owners

Nowadays, my blog is getting many visits from search engine results on keywords like “Philippine software priacy”,  “PAPT raids”, “anti-piracy campaign”, “Cebu crackdown”, “IP seal” and others. This could be due to the software piracy crackdown announced by the Pilipinas Ant-Piracy Team (PAPT). While many of those violating the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (IPR Law) and the Optical Media Act (OMB Law) say there is nothing to worry about because raids like lightning will not strike them, I know that deep within them they really worry about the serious consequences of getting caught violating the laws.

For those operating their i-cafés using genuine and legal software and have their optical media writers registered with OMB, there is absolutely nothing for them to worry about raids by anti-piracy agencies of the government. They just need to have their proofs of compliance ready anytime such raids happen in their area. They should verify though the authenticity of the inspection to be done on his café before showing his proofs.

Internet café owners using pirated software and offering illegal CD-burning services do not have much options during raids. The situation is similar to being a car driver who got caught for a traffic violation without a driver’s license to show to the apprehending officer. Remember that ignorance of the law excuses no one and the flagrant violation of the statutes cannot escape conviction and punishment.

With the above, I say, “Do not wait for raids to happen before you make a move to comply with the anti-piracy laws. It may be late when you do so, rules change everyday. Do not let your investment go to waste while you go to jail”.