Bangkok--21 May--Vero Public Relations Thai police arrested a 28 year-old man in northern Bangkok on April 2, 2008 for allegedly selling pirated software on the Internet for more than one year. He faces a possible jail sentence of 4 years and fines of up to 800,000 Thai baht. The suspect was arrested after a one-month investigation, said Pol.Maj.Ratchapong Tiasud and Pol.Lt.Suppachai Wiboonsuksan of the Metropolitan Police Bureau. The suspect’s business model was to advertise himself on various forums and other internet sites and then accept orders by email. He then burnt the CDs himself and went to the local post office and sent them to his customers. He accepted payments by ATM transfer. Many of the buyers were unaware that the software was illegally copied and possibly defective. During the raid, Police found the suspect with dozens of illegally copied programs worth more than 7.8 million baht, including a PC for accessing the Internet and burning CDs. The suspect is accused of pirating commonly available business productivity software for photo editing, computer-aided design, animation, operating system, word processing, etc., all belonging to BSA member companies such as Adobe, Autodesk and Microsoft, amongst others. “We believe this suspect has broken Thailand’s intellectual property laws. Such acts undermine the efforts by the government to improve the economy of Thailand,” said Pol.Maj.Ratchapong Tiasud. “Our enforcement team is dedicated to protecting the intellectual property rights of innovators in Thailand. People who sell pirated software should know that we are serious about wiping out piracy. People who knowingly buy pirated software should be aware that they are supporting criminal syndicates with their purchases.” Members of the local software and IT community praised the arrest and thanked the police authorities for their support. Software piracy negatively impacts the businesses of legitimate software retailers, software developers and entrepreneurs. “We congratulate Pol.Maj.Ratchapong Tiasud and Pol.Lt.Suppachai Wiboonsuksan of the Metropolitan Police Bureau on this arrest,” said Tarun Sawney, Director of Antipiracy in the Asia region for the Business Software Alliance (BSA). “The reality is that people who break the intellectual property law by copying software are harming the Thai economy. Numerous studies have shown that a reduction in the piracy rate translates into revenues to the local IT industry, new jobs, greater foreign direct investments, additional tax revenues for Thailand and more social services for communities. Software pirates are doing a serious disservice to Thai economic growth and society.” “The use of pirated software also contributes to lower productivity and compromises security in businesses,” said Sawney. “Only genuine software provides proper protection and security. But people who buy from disreputable online sellers may or may not realize this. For more information on how buyers can protect themselves they should visit our website b4usurf.org” The President of the Association of Thai Software Industry also praised the arrest, saying that he is encouraged by police actions that protect intellectual property rights of software developers. “On behalf of ATSI, I would like to thank Pol.Maj.Ratchapong Tiasud and Pol.Lt.Suppachai Wiboonsuksan of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, and their team of officers, on a job well done,” said Somkiat Ungaree, President of ATSI. “Punishing sellers of pirated software is a good step in changing the mind-set about piracy and helping people understand that piracy affects the livelihood of resellers and software developers. We need to support intellectual property rights in Thailand if we want to continue to progress into a successful and prosperous knowledge society.” Contact: Artima Tantikul Sujittra Yingpoemmongkol Vero Public Relations Vero Public Relations Tel: 02 684-1551 Tel: 02 684-1551 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]