Thai police make mass seizure of counterfeit software amid ongoing piracy raids in Thailand

Microsoft reminds Thai consumers and businesses to always purchase from approved resellers following discovery of new ‘high-end’ counterfeit software from China Officers from the Economic and Cyber Crime Division of the Royal Thai Police have carried out a series of coordinated raids at locations throughout the country, tackling a variety of software piracy offenders, ranging from individuals selling counterfeit software online to those running large-scale commercial operations, burning and producing huge quantities of counterfeit software for supply to IT stores in Thailand. The move comes after the Economic and Cybercrime Division (ECD) announced in October this year the launch of an intensified anti-piracy crackdown in Thailand, with these raids evidence of this commitment in action. “We believe there is now greater public awareness in Thailand about the issues of piracy, but as these raids confirm, there are still groups intent on deceiving customers by producing and selling illegal counterfeit software,” said Police Lieutenant Colonel Thienchai Lertmaneetaweesap, ECD, Royal Thai Police. “Software piracy continues to pose a big threat to the growth of the local Information and Communications sector and is causing considerable lost revenue to our economy. Through increased legal action, we are sending a clear message that the government is determined to make the country piracy-free.” A total of five raids were carried out, starting with a chain of CD shops with branches at multiple IT malls throughout Thailand. Raided sites in Bangkok were found to be stockpiling large quantities of counterfeit software from a variety of vendors including Microsoft, as well as running commercial operations with heavy equipment to produce burned CD-R and DVD-Rs, complete with silk-screening and packaging to make them look deceptively similar to genuine software products. In the first wave of raids, more than 300 units of deceptively high-quality counterfeit Microsoft software worth an estimated retail value in excess of 2 million baht - and being used by unscrupulous sellers to cheat consumers into thinking they’re buying genuine software - were seized from an internet shop in the Lad Phrao area of Bangkok. The shop owner has been arrested and is now facing criminal court proceedings. A second wave of raids then uncovered over a hundred and fifty counterfeit discs found on a business’s premises, more than 2,000 units stockpiled at a storage location and a further 700 discs at a final raided location. Two individuals were arrested at these locations and both are now pending criminal court action. Counterfeited Microsoft products seized at these sites included popular titles such as Windows Server, Windows XP Professional, Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 - together worth an estimated total in the tens of millions of baht. The sheer volume of discs involved is indicative of a large-scale commercial operation and indeed police also seized professional disc-burning equipment, confirming that in addition to new sophisticated copies entering the country from China, software pirates are still very much running their large-scale operations directly here in Thailand. Producing counterfeit software on this scale is a serious criminal offense that government and industry research has consistently found to be funding criminal networks around the world – criminal activities that consumers are unwittingly supporting when they purchase pirated products. Mass-produced counterfeit software seized during Thai police raids. However, what makes these latest seizures stand out is not only the large quantity involved, but also the unprecedented quality. Uncovered during the raids were new high-quality counterfeits from China that use sophisticated pirating techniques to make them virtually indistinguishable to the untrained eye from the genuine product. “Counterfeit software is nothing new and Microsoft has long been working hard to both educate consumers on the benefits of using genuine software, as well as protect them against being duped into buying pirated copies,” said Brian Williams, Senior Regional Program Manager, Anti-Piracy & Anti-Counterfeiting Investigations, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited. “We fully support the police’s zero-tolerance approach to these activities in Thailand and when Microsoft copyrights are involved we feel that it is our responsibility to alert consumers.” “Importantly the police’s discovery of a new variety of ‘high-quality’ Chinese counterfeit Microsoft software is particularly difficult to recognize since they come with convincing discs, full packaging and even forged Certificates of Authenticity that mean they can be falsely advertised as genuine and sold for close to the full price,” continued Brian Williams. “As such, now more than ever, consumers and businesses in Thailand need to be extra vigilant when purchasing software and ensure they always buy from one of our approved partners and genuine resellers.” Increasingly sophisticated piracy techniques make these high-quality Chinese fakes hard to distinguish. These ongoing police raids signify an intensifying effort to effectively tackle and reduce piracy in Thailand, but there is still much to be done. Indeed raids are just one part of a much larger ongoing process that the Thai government, Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) and the Royal Thai Police are employing to pro-actively deal with the issue for the long-term benefits for Thai businesses and the economy. Meanwhile, Microsoft Thailand is endeavoring to protect consumers at every step of the way, whether it be educational efforts to alert users beforehand or supporting them if they have unknowingly bought illegal counterfeit software. For example, one local IT businessman recently received support from Microsoft after purchasing what he thought was genuine Microsoft software from an online auction site: “I am an honest businessman. I sell computer supplies to my customers in and around Chiang Mai. I bought what I believed was genuine Microsoft software from this person to sell to my customers but then I found out that the products I had bought were counterfeit and worthless. I returned the money to my clients and lost a lot of money so I am extremely grateful to Microsoft for their support which eventually allowed me to file a criminal case against him, resulting in his conviction and court fine. I feel sorry for his other victims who may not yet know that they have bought counterfeit products from him." Microsoft’s top tips for protecting yourself include always buying from a trusted source, learning how to recognize genuine software by checking out the latest tips (now available in Thai language) at www.microsoft.com/thailand/genuine/howtotell.aspx and keeping your anti-virus software up-to-date. The free Microsoft Security Essentials download (available in Thai-language) at www.microsoft.com/security_essentials is a great place to start. Furthermore, users who suspect they have been sold a pirated copy of Microsoft software can also contact the Microsoft Customer Contact Center by calling 02-263-6888 or visiting http://www.microsoft.com/thailand/genuine for more information. For further information, please contact: Suphada Chaiwong Thailand Tel: 0-2627 3501 ext 209 Fax. 0-2627 3510 Email: [email protected] สามารถคลิกดูภาพประกอบได้ที่ www.thaipr.net

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