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 P70 million 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 Center 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 P70 million ($1.7 million). 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 utilizing pirated goods such as software, which only cause more harm than good,” stated 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.

“Software piracy is a violation of the Copyright Provisions of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines [Republic Act 8293] and the Optical Media Act [Republic Act 9239]. This subjects violators to criminal sanctions of up to nine years of imprisonment and a fine of up to 1.5 million,” reiterated the OMB executive.

In separate operation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation also in November, four computer dealers in Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City were also found accountable for software infringement. A total of eight laptops carrying the brands Samsung, Lenovo, Acer and HP, three pirated installers, one desktop and four flash drives—all of which contained infringing Microsoft programs—were seized.

“There are no benefits in pirated software. It is unreliable as it contains malware, which exposes users to identity and information theft and loss of data. In an even more serious note, it harms the Philippine economy in revenue losses, lower tax collections for the government and diminished job opportunities for Filipinos. Our efforts here are geared towards endorsing the use of only genuine software,” said the Investigation bureau’s Intellectual Property Rights Division Chief Rommel Vallejo.