Bars And Internet Shops Being Raided!

[Mai Krap]

In the last week there have been several bars and Internet shops raided for copyright law infractions. What has happened is a group of authorities shows up and then checks for bogus copies of Windows XP. If found the shops are then fined on the spot 50,000 baht to be paid in cash. The same group has been going to bars and checking for any copied music and giving a 25,000 baht fine.

Somehow I believe there is more of this to come, more fines, more fees, more obscure laws that are impossible to sort. It seems that in the past few months its just one thing after another but I'm sure all the latest money collected is on the up and up and will be deposited directly into the account of Bill Gates.

[shadow99dancer]

ha!!!!!!HA!!!!!ha!!!!!! ANOTHER ONE for the APRIL 1 joke!

[Mai Krap]

ha!!!!!!HA!!!!!ha!!!!!! ANOTHER ONE for the APRIL 1 joke!

Unfortunately this is a true story and no April fools joke. It is rather unfortunate timing to post about but true just the same, it happened to people I know. I left off the names and places just to protect my source as they don't want any further dealings with this latest group of entrepreneurs. So again, this is not a joke!

[sbk]

I call them the microsoft police. They raid internet cafes here on Koh Phangan from time to time. Usually they only hit one before the word gets out and the rest of them close. Computers have been confiscated and, unfortunately for the owner who can't afford a license for each of his 10 computers, it wasn't an April Fools Day joke

[roblin]

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

[endure]

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

That was tried by a poster on here some time ago. Customers simply went to cafes that used Microsoft software. They aren't interested in learnning something new - they just want to use software that they're familiar with from home.

[Donnyboy]

In the last week there have been several bars and Internet shops raided for copyright law infractions. What has happened is a group of authorities shows up and then checks for bogus copies of Windows XP. If found the shops are then fined on the spot 50,000 baht to be paid in cash. The same group has been going to bars and checking for any copied music and giving a 25,000 baht fine.

Somehow I believe there is more of this to come, more fines, more fees, more obscure laws that are impossible to sort. It seems that in the past few months its just one thing after another but I'm sure all the latest money collected is on the up and up and will be deposited directly into the account of Bill Gates.

which area? Which authorities- Boys in Brown?

Edited April 1, 2007 by Donnyboy

[roblin]

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

That was tried by a poster on here some time ago. Customers simply went to cafes that used Microsoft software. They aren't interested in learnning something new - they just want to use software that they're familiar with from home.

did the poster try reactOS?

http://svn.reactos.org/videos/ros_030_gui.html

[cdnvic]

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

Yep. Free to obtain, free to use, and much more secure when people are plugging in cameras, and mp3 players all the time. You can set them up so that they are easy for customers to use. The competitors who run pirated software can worry about the raids.

Edited April 1, 2007 by cdnvic

[h90]

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

Yep. Free to obtain, free to use, and much more secure when people are plugging in cameras, and mp3 players all the time. You can set them up so that they are easy for customers to use. The competitors who run pirated software can worry about the raids.

Or at least dual boot, if the customer wants WinXP at least he needs the time till the computer reboot and when the men in brown come the computers are on linux. and after some time people will change to linux....

[endure]

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

That was tried by a poster on here some time ago. Customers simply went to cafes that used Microsoft software. They aren't interested in learnning something new - they just want to use software that they're familiar with from home.

did the poster try reactOS?

http://svn.reactos.org/videos/ros_030_gui.html

I've no idea which version he chose. I do know that he tried quite hard to 'convert' his customers but didn't succeed. He eventually decided that he was in business to make money rather than evangelise and reverted to Windows.

As an aside, I deal with 'ordinary' non computer-conversant people as part of my job and for many of them moving an icon from one place to another on the Windows desktop can stop them in their tracks.

[Pomthai]

So when do all the governmental offices & institution's get raided for their bootlegged windows? Sound like an April fool to me. Since when could your local BiB tell the difference anyways?

Disclaimer: This post was written on genuine version of win xp. No really, its a toshiba lappy I bought it 3 yrs ago with real a OEM version from Singapore. I get updates & everything!!!!!!!

Edited April 1, 2007 by Pomthai

[ourmanflint]

Excellent I think this is what the IT minister was saying... that Thai people should pay vast amounts more money to foreign devils for using their non open source products.

Bravo!!

[bendix]

Why shouldn't the authorities raid businesses using pirated software. It's completely appropriate.

[jumnien]

Didn't they replace Thailand's operating system on Sept. 19th with a fake as well! Whose going to crack down on that?

[h90]

Didn't they replace Thailand's operating system on Sept. 19th with a fake as well! Whose going to crack down on that?

Well you can't see any difference to the former original OS.....

[bendix]

So when do all the governmental offices & institution's get raided for their bootlegged windows? Sound like an April fool to me. Since when could your local BiB tell the difference anyways?

Disclaimer: This post was written on genuine version of win xp. No really, its a toshiba lappy I bought it 3 yrs ago with real a OEM version from Singapore. I get updates & everything!!!!!!!

Just to supplement this. Most of the major software companies have come together to form the Business Software Alliance, aimed at stamping out corporate pilfering of software IP. They work with law firms, customs authorities (occasionally supported by the police) to conduct periodic raids on companies and organisations known to be in breach of copyright laws.

They also have occasional campaigns encouraging (and rewarding) whistleblowers to report any known violators, and I understand the rewards are very generous.

When a corporation is raided and discovered to be in breach, the BSA's lawyers usually enter into negotiations with that company. Court cases are very rare; instead the BSA is realistic and seeks to come to a negotiated settlement to get the organisation 'legit'.

[Gary A]

This is VERY likely to be a money grubbing scam: Below from Pattaya News;

An interesting story now from the Dum Phone Shop in South Pattaya. The owner of the shop is Khun Pichai aged 37 who called in journalists to his shop at 10.30pm on Friday regarding an incident which occurred on Wednesday Night at his shop which was caught on tape. He explained that a group of 6 armed men claiming to be Police Officers working in the Copyright Department entered his shop and demanded to inspect his laptop.

Khun Pichai correctly asked the men for their Police Identification Badges and a search warrant issued by the court. Both failed to materialize which aroused suspicion. The 6 men were not polite and one of the men was even carrying his firearm in his hand as if he was either about to use it or was prepared to threaten the shop owner with the weapon. Khun Pichai decided to film the men and gave us a copy of the tape. The men were clearly not happy with the filming and initially demanded the filming to cease. The brave shop owner stated that this was his shop and he was fully within his rights to take the pictures.

Eventually the men decided to leave the shop without checking the laptop despite them wanting to take the man and his computer to Pattaya Police Station for further investigation. Khun Pichai made a police report of the incident on Friday Night and officers at Pattaya Police Station promised to investigate this matter. We have had it confirmed from an anonymous source that the group are genuine Police Officers who will now most likely be disciplined.

We advise all business operators watching this program to not panic if confronted by so-called Copyright Police. Firstly, check their Police ID cards and then demand they produce a search warrant. If neither are produced call the emergency Police number 191 and refuse access to any computer until the local Police arrive.

[dumspero]

Gary-

Why "VERY" likely to be a scam? Based on the information in the OP (assuming not a joke) and the information in your post, isn't it more likely that the rogue cops were only pulling the scam because they knew that proper authorities are in fact doing some policing of the software infringers? Is it really more likely the rogue cops would just make up a scam whole cloth? And if there is real policing, then why more likely the ones being reported in the OP are fake and not real?

[ronw]

In the last week there have been several bars and Internet shops raided for copyright law infractions. What has happened is a group of authorities shows up and then checks for bogus copies of Windows XP. If found the shops are then fined on the spot 50,000 baht to be paid in cash. The same group has been going to bars and checking for any copied music and giving a 25,000 baht fine.

Somehow I believe there is more of this to come, more fines, more fees, more obscure laws that are impossible to sort. It seems that in the past few months its just one thing after another but I'm sure all the latest money collected is on the up and up and will be deposited directly into the account of Bill Gates.

Do you really believe that SIr Bill Gates will actually get any of this money?

Methinks the fingers will prove too sticky for any to reach him.......

Sounds like another good tea money earner for someone!!

[cdnvic]

Gates isn't the one who is suffering, it's the honest shop who can't compete on price with the guy who pays nothing for his windows, or the honest shop running linux who loses to the guy running the pirated windows.

If you owned a pub and were losing business to a guy selling fake Heineken at half the price you'd be happy to see the raids on them, as I'm sure the honest shop owners are in this case.

[naka]

Gates isn't the one who is suffering, it's the honest shop who can't compete on price with the guy who pays nothing for his windows, or the honest shop running linux who loses to the guy running the pirated windows.

If you owned a pub and were losing business to a guy selling fake Heineken at half the price you'd be happy to see the raids on them, as I'm sure the honest shop owners are in this case.

Doubt that Gates is suffering at all !

But I sympathize with the local family who save up

to buy a second hand, five year old PC for the kid and

then are expected to ante up another 6K for Windows.

(Don't mention Linux please ... not for the masses)

Naka.

[wasabi]

If this is indeed real, I wonder if the pirated DVD's are next? That is a huge market in Thailand. Even though software makers may be losing billions by pirated software in Asia I still find it hard to sympathize with these raids, it just seems illegal copies of software is an inherent part of the modern Thailand I know and love. Honor among thieves.

[sbk]

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

Yep. Free to obtain, free to use, and much more secure when people are plugging in cameras, and mp3 players all the time. You can set them up so that they are easy for customers to use. The competitors who run pirated software can worry about the raids.

Its interesting you say that cdnvic, because I am one of those who would truly like to switch (and I mean a serious switch) to a Linux based OS that is 1) easy to use for everybody, 2)easy to install and 3) doesn't require any programming skills to set up or run. So far, in my research, I have not found one Linux based OS that meets these requirements. I'd love an honest recommendation from a knowledgable person.

(and no, there is no sarcasm intended in that comment).

[cdnvic]

long overdue for the internet cafes to switch to knoppix, ubuntu or whatever.

Yep. Free to obtain, free to use, and much more secure when people are plugging in cameras, and mp3 players all the time. You can set them up so that they are easy for customers to use. The competitors who run pirated software can worry about the raids.

Its interesting you say that cdnvic, because I am one of those who would truly like to switch (and I mean a serious switch) to a Linux based OS that is 1) easy to use for everybody, 2)easy to install and 3) doesn't require any programming skills to set up or run. So far, in my research, I have not found one Linux based OS that meets these requirements. I'd love an honest recommendation from a knowledgable person.

(and no, there is no sarcasm intended in that comment).

Ubuntu/Kubuntu is really pretty easy to get used to. The only annoyance is that you have to install your own codecs for multimedia files but otherwise you don't notice much difference, especially when you are using the same browser (Firefox) and can easily run Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and you don't need to install anything more than a decent antivirus, no antispyware or other stuff to mess with.

If you want I'll send you a Live CD so that you can run it off your cdrom drive to try it out. You can probably find one at a local shop too.

[Temporaneo]

I sympathize with the local family who save up

to buy a second hand, five year old PC for the kid and

then are expected to ante up another 6K for Windows.

I do sympathize also.

[cdnvic]

Long before Windows, many of us learnt to use computers as kids.

[Phil Conners]

Why shouldn't the authorities raid businesses using pirated software. It's completely appropriate.

What a load of bull, it is not appropriate for a government to run the errands of big US businesses.

[Khun ?]

It is fine to steal as long as it is not from you. The police should be out trying to make money

flogging foreigners instead of bother local thiefs.

[Sing_Sling]

Why shouldn't the authorities raid businesses using pirated software. It's completely appropriate.

What a load of bull, it is not appropriate for a government to run the errands of big US businesses.

Can't decide if you were being serious or tongue-in-cheek . . . . I'm hoping good sense would suggest the latter.