Manila Times/Manila
As part of its continuous effort to combat counterfeiting in the country, the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team (PAPT) recently cracked down on various retail shops in Metro Manila allegedly engaged in piracy.
Over 70mn pesos worth of pirated discs were seized and alleged infringers were subjected to criminal prosecution.
As a member of the PAPT, the Optical Media Board (OMB) conducted a sweep on pirated disc retailers in Taft Avenue and Recto in Manila, Taguig City and Marikina City in November. Included in the malls raided were Tutuban Centre Mall, University Mall, Isetann, Metro Market! Market! and Marikina Riverbanks.
A total of 70 sacks or roughly 28,000 pieces of counterfeit discs were seized, with an estimated retail value of 70mn pesos ($1.7mn). The pirated discs contained movies, games, music and computer programs, many of which were Microsoft products including various versions of Windows, Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, Microsoft Office Project, SQL server and Xbox games.
“We are aware that many consumers are attracted to low-priced merchandise such as optical media especially during this period that they tend to overlook the fact that these items are counterfeit products. People neglect the consequences of utilising pirated goods such as software, which only cause more harm than good,” said lawyer Cyrus Valenzuela, the OMB executive director who spearheaded the operations.
They were also joined by US law enforcement officials from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations to observe the clamping down on software pirates.