Stepping up its efforts to curb software piracy, The Philippines" National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) recently raided five computer stores found selling personal computers loaded with unlicensed software.

The NBI seized 5 million pesos (US$92,600) worth of hardware from five PC stores located at the Cyberzone of SM North Edsa in Quezon City. The PCs were found pre-loaded with illegal copies of Microsoft Corp."s Windows operating system.

The raid was spearheaded by NBI"s Intellectual Property division. The offenders apprehended now face a fine of up to 1.5 million pesos and imprisonment of six to nine years for violating Republic Act No. 8293 or the Copyright Infringement Act.

"The authorities, with assistance from copyright holders, are vigilant in monitoring the activities of software and hardware distributors to ensure that they are abiding by the law," said Justo Yap, a lawyer who heads the NBI IP division.

Ongoing Monitoring

Meanwhile, Bienvenido Marquez, legal counsel for Microsoft Philippines, said in an interview that authorities are also monitoring other shopping malls housing computer stores that may be selling illegally copied software.

Marquez added that monitoring activities extend outside Metro Manila and are conducted in other urban areas like Cebu City and Davao City in the South.

In the Philippines, Microsoft employs the services of an independent "market research" organization that assists the NBI in monitoring both computer stores and end-users.

Mike Domingo, operations director for Orion Support Inc., noted that PCs seized in the raid are being sold for an average of P20,000 each.

"The stores bundle illegal copies of Windows as a come-on for buyers. The sellers just ask for additional fees amounting to around 500 pesos to 1,000 pesos," he told Computerworld Philippines in an interview.

Domingo and his group do "test-buys" wherein they pose as buyers and monitor stores to learn whether or not they bundle unlicensed software with the PCs they sell.

"Monitoring end-users is actually a bit more difficult because we have to spend a considerable amount of time infiltrating the offices of suspected users," he said.