Clampdown On Pirate Programmes In Phuket

[FarangRed]

URGENT WARNINGI just read this on another site,

Their office was a hive of activity with half a dozen local pooter specialists going through their computers and backing every thing up before deleting the operating systems .

Yesterday a 'Hit Squad' authorized by the governor as part of his "Clean up Phukets Image" campaign and backed up by a heavy police presence, descended upon the Boat Lagoon and Royal Phuket Marina area, impounded all computers and checked for Pirated soft ware. Several companies have closed until they pay a fine of 500,000 Baht and install genuine software.

Today they are still working through the area( hence the panic in the office downstairs) and the word on the street is that the campaign will cover Phuket Town and then move on to Patong and other areas !

Will add more info as it becomes available but this seems a lot more serious that the Music scam thing that happened a while ago.

[paulfromphuket]

so lets clean up phuket!

should we start with the tuk tuks, taxis, drug dealers, animal photo scum merchants, jet skis/ moterbikes renters,ladyboy pickpockets, police check points or the timeshare touts?

NOP lets check for illegal software, nice one" prize a nob".Oh and lets plant some nice palm trees down the highway a f#$%ing genius.

[ScubaBuddha]

Your post really says it all paulfromphuket.

Sounds like someone was a little stingy with the tea money!

[gotlost]

Pick anumber and stand in line.

[FarangRed]

so lets clean up phuket!

should we start with the tuk tuks, taxis, drug dealers, animal photo scum merchants, jet skis/ moterbikes renters,ladyboy pickpockets, police check points or the timeshare touts?

NOP lets check for illegal software, nice one" prize a nob".Oh and lets plant some nice palm trees down the highway a f#$%ing genius.

The Jet ski scam is finished have to try something else

[tonytigerbkk]

The clampdown is nationwide and started on October 26th.

Our company received an advance letter about this and it has been highly published in the Thai language newspapers.

as a result we have legal programs that are too old too replace and cannot find the original discs, so we will loose a lot of our data .

However as with most companies in Thailand we may have been using one or two programs with questionable licenses so everyone in my office is now learning to use open office and other open source software .

I guess that all my torrents will have to be downloaded at home from now on.

Regards,

Tiger.

lost about

[FarangRed]

I just read about some uni in Korat changed their operating system just in time, what next?

[sbk]

It appears to be a nationwide crackdown on pirated software as it has already been reported in both the Chiang Mai and Samui forums.

According to one poster, it is announced on a govt website (presumably MICT but the poster doesn't mention what site)

[ScubaBuddha]

I wonder how many police departments and other government offices are running unlicensed pirated software. 100% maybe? Or have they even entered the computer age yet?

[LivinginKata]

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Software police target Phuket businesses

Phuket Gazette IT Manager Seubsak ('Big') Sahaworaphan.

PHUKET: As part of a nationwide investigation, Phuket businesses are being investigated closely by police for using illegal computer software.

A Gazette source said a 'high profile' property investment firm was raided earlier this week.

Police are said to have seized hardware and software, all allegedly unlicensed. The company was given a million baht fine, the source said.

Following news of the raid, a number of Phuket businesses reportedly closed for the day.

Colonel Sarayuth Pooltanya, deputy commander of the Royal Thai Police Economic and Cyber Crimes Division (ECD), said late last month that "all businesses will have to ensure that they are compliant with the Thai Copyright Act."

"Major efforts" to target companies using pirated software began on October 26, he said.

A list of 1,000 suspect companies nationwide compiled by the ECD has been based on tips, some anonymous. These are typically from sources within the target companies.

Leads are also being shared by the Business Software Alliance, which runs a toll-free hotline and website for informants to report on the use of pirated and unlicensed business software.

In recent months, the ECD has stepped up enforcement of intellectual property rights in respect of software.

August marked one of the ECD's most successful months, with 15 substantial raids netting 54.5 million baht's worth of allegedly non-copyright software.

The raided companies came from a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, real estate, automobiles, shipping, design and engineering.

Phuket Gazette IT Manager Seubsak Sahaworaphan said businesses should perform regular checks to make sure employees are not downloading illegal software.

“We use a software checking device called System Hound which is installed in all our computers and has a centralized network control point,” he said.

“The system performs regular checks on all of our computers and makes sure all licenses are up to date,” he said.

It was not reported if or when the probe would be expanded to include computer companies that load up hard drives with illegal software when selling new machines to customers. – Gazette and Nation reporters

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-11-05

[JetsetBkk]

Does this mean I shouldn't install my free copy of XP on my new Acer PC?

[ScubaBuddha]

Does this mean I shouldn't install my free copy of XP on my new Acer PC?

You can, just make sure you can prove it's legit! Sounds like your guilty until proven innocent with this stuff.

It's funny. Think about your home countries for a sec. Do you think Microsoft would be able drop a few million baht to the police to fund a crackdown of pirated software like this? Could you imagine police entering private businesses with no warrant, (not needed in Thailand I presume) and just start packing up your company owned systems if you can't prove licensing on the spot? Crazy place this is sometimes.

[JetsetBkk]

Does this mean I shouldn't install my free copy of XP on my new Acer PC?

You can, just make sure you can prove it's legit! Sounds like your guilty until proven innocent with this stuff.

It's funny. Think about your home countries for a sec. Do you think Microsoft would be able drop a few million baht to the police to fund a crackdown of pirated software like this? Could you imagine police entering private businesses with no warrant, (not needed in Thailand I presume) and just start packing up your company owned systems if you can't prove licensing on the spot? Crazy place this is sometimes.

Sorry, my question was rhetorical. I know it's not legit and I'm definitely guilty. In the UK about 15 years ago, most of the company PCs were updated from old Windows (95?, 2000?) to XP without a thought (OK, a little thought) about the consequences. Those were the days when you got a full installation CD with a new computer - before they started this "system recovery CD" nonsense - and could install it on all the other computers.

I used to get letters from the BSA that I would read, think "Who the hel_l do they think they are?" and throw them in the bin. Then it got serious when my MD (CEO) got a letter from them saying why hadn't we replied to their previous several letters (to me) and he told me to get legit. Cost a bloody fortune - about 25,000 GBP - to get all the M$ Office licences and XP licenses.

[ajazza]

It is easy enough to go legit these days... you either buy a new computer which will most likely come with a copy of windows. Then all the other software you need can be downloaded for free, for example:

Microsoft Office can be replaced with Open Office

Outlook with Thunderbird

etc etc

You can even get rid of Windows itself reasonably easy replacing it with any number of linux distributions.

[ScubaBuddha]

Does this mean I shouldn't install my free copy of XP on my new Acer PC?

You can, just make sure you can prove it's legit! Sounds like your guilty until proven innocent with this stuff.

It's funny. Think about your home countries for a sec. Do you think Microsoft would be able drop a few million baht to the police to fund a crackdown of pirated software like this? Could you imagine police entering private businesses with no warrant, (not needed in Thailand I presume) and just start packing up your company owned systems if you can't prove licensing on the spot? Crazy place this is sometimes.

Sorry, my question was rhetorical. I know it's not legit and I'm definitely guilty. In the UK about 15 years ago, most of the company PCs were updated from old Windows (95?, 2000?) to XP without a thought (OK, a little thought) about the consequences. Those were the days when you got a full installation CD with a new computer - before they started this "system recovery CD" nonsense - and could install it on all the other computers.

(snip)

And my answer was satirical.

I believe even when you get the OS preloaded, you can still create a CD that is as good as a full installation CD, no? I did that with my Vista OS just in case the entire HD takes a dump, including seperate protected part which the computer treats as a seperate drive. Used it a couple times too. Acted same as when I reinstalled from the protected are of the drive.

[harleyclarkey]

You know it's about time this was stopped.

I really feel for Bill (G) and all his fellow directors and shareholders. The multi billions they screw out of every one of us every year has really got to be kept topped up.

After all, thay are a kind generous company who have only our welfare at heart and it is understandable they should feel slighted at some piracy going on. They would never, ever think of going against the law themselves, being a fine upstanding company who leads by example.

Their halo shines on. Never had a run in with the EU Commission on unfair trade practices nor the Americans. Never tried to bury Sun Microsystems, Novell, etc. Never tried to totally dominate the operating systems by excluding interfaces to competitors. This year they are still at it. Still acting illegally and they don't give a toss. They kicked up hel_l at the decisions that went against them. Kinda reminds me of the indignation of the tobacco companies who denied smoking was bad for you while they altered the chemicals in the tobacco to keep you addicted.

Nope ...Bill and his boys are a shining light to us all. Darn those small people who copy our stuff.

[JetsetBkk]

And my answer was satirical.

I believe even when you get the OS preloaded, you can still create a CD that is as good as a full installation CD, no? I did that with my Vista OS just in case the entire HD takes a dump, including seperate protected part which the computer treats as a seperate drive. Used it a couple times too. Acted same as when I reinstalled from the protected are of the drive.

Whoops! Whoosh - straight over my head!

[LivinLOS]

And my answer was satirical.

I believe even when you get the OS preloaded, you can still create a CD that is as good as a full installation CD, no? I did that with my Vista OS just in case the entire HD takes a dump, including seperate protected part which the computer treats as a seperate drive. Used it a couple times too. Acted same as when I reinstalled from the protected are of the drive.

Those types of installs are usually locked to that hardware.. Meaning you cant take the OEM license and easily install it on a different machine (you can with tricks but in a default situation).

[LivinLOS]

It is easy enough to go legit these days... you either buy a new computer which will most likely come with a copy of windows.

Not bought one here then ??

Most are sold without OS to compete on price.. Then shop installs it for a 100 baht or so on top.

[JetsetBkk]

It is easy enough to go legit these days... you either buy a new computer which will most likely come with a copy of windows.

Not bought one here then ??

Most are sold without OS to compete on price.. Then shop installs it for a 100 baht or so on top.

There's a small shop in Central - it used to be bigger - that will install XP for "free" with a lifetime guarantee. I hope that means they'll fix any O/S problems during the lifetime of the machine rather than come and shoot you if you have a problem.