Pirate fined
A Port Elizabeth computer shop manager, Vikesh Singh, has been released on R5 000 bail after being arrested for selling counterfeit Microsoft software to unsuspecting customers.
The arrest followed a recent raid by the SAPS Commercial Crime Unit on Singh’s store, trading as PE Technologies, in Newton Park. The raid was the culmination of extensive investigation by Microsoft, including undercover test purchases, after several complaints by local end users and other resellers in the region.
The SAPS seized a large quantity of fake Microsoft software, including Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home, Office 2003 Professional and Office 2007 Professional. The counterfeit goods were fully packaged to look like genuine products and included counterfeit CD’s with simulated holograms and counterfeit certificates of authenticity. The software was clearly being sold to customers as the genuine article.
Microsoft SA’s anti-piracy Manager, Charl Everton, said the raid was the latest in a series of crackdowns designed to protect honest consumers and resellers. Earlier this year, Microsoft reached settlements totaling hundreds of thousands of rands with 21 local computer dealers selling computers loaded with unlicensed Microsoft software.
"Illegal software doesn’t only cost the large vendors dearly. Estimates by technology researcher IDC suggest that worldwide, the industry is losing more than $10 billion a year from pirated desktop software, said Everton.
"In South Africa, one in every three copies of our software is used illegally. Estimates suggest that reducing piracy by 10 percentage points over four years could generate an extra 1 200 jobs in the local IT sector, R6 billion in local industry revenue and R490 million in additional tax revenues."
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