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| L-R: Michael Ekunke, Copyright Offcer II,
Enforcement, Uwem Udoh, Web Developer, Augustine Amodu, Deputy Director, Enforcement and Tony Ojini, Copyright Officer II, Enforcement at a press briefing to announce the findings of a software audit carried out on Jide Taiwo & Co Estate Firm Wednesday, June 13, 2012. |
The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has
clamped down on and estate management firm, Jide Taiwo & Co in Victoria
Island, Lagos.
Deputy Director of Enforcement NCC,
Mr. Augustine Amodu, noted that the usual clamp downs have been on channel
distributors, but NCC is trying to take piracy fight to the end-users as well.
He also
said that different Microsoft software packages suspected to be counterfeits
were discovered, including Microsoft Operating Systems Windows XP and Vista,
Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010.
He explained that the raid took place
after Jide Taiwo & Co failed to provide the client access license for its Microsoft
Windows 2003.
Some of the suspected physical items
taken away from the premises comprise a media for Microsoft Office 2010, keys
for Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Windows 7.
He further said that all the items have
been sent to Microsoft Ireland office for confirmation and an
investigation into the matter is currently ongoing.
“Counterfeit software is a cankerworm that is eating through the
fabric of societies all over the world. Their
prevalence has a lot to do with the sophisticated and organized syndicate of
pirates but also can be traced to the demand for them,” Amodu said.
He stressed that consumers of
pirated software must also realize that they will be punished for contravening
the law and putting people’s livelihoods as well as the economy of the country
as a whole at risk.
“To win this fight against
copyright infringements, it must be a joint effort of regulators as well as
consumers,” he said.
Amodu pointed out that as at 2011, PC
software piracy rates in Nigeria stood at 82 per cent with attendant
opportunities for small business in the region of $250 million lost.
“Local Nigerian businesses have had
difficulty competing with counterfeiters that have priced their goods at
below-market levels and are then forced to cut jobs,” he said.
This
enforcement action, he said, helps in getting consumers to understand the risk
they are exposed to when they engage in the illegality of purchasing
counterfeit software or mis-licensing software as a whole.
“It
also helps to protect genuine business whose true purpose is to add value to
the customer,” says Amodu, adding that software piracy in organisation is often difficult to
trace as the end users already have the software loaded on their systems.
Emphasising however, there is technology that
makes this possible and regulatory and enforcement authorities now rely on that
to broaden their reach to the demand market.
Counterfeit software, Amodu said, also includes fake hologram CDs and
fake certificate of authenticity labels that look like the real thing and which
are sold as complete software packages.
Mrs Ugochi Agoreyo, the Anti-Piracy Manager at
Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, said that end-users should be careful when purchasing software.
Consumers looking for a bargain, she
said, should know that the price you could pay in data loss or identity theft
by using counterfeit
software that is vulnerable to computer viruses, malware and hackers far outweighs the gains you have
made from the difference in pricing.
“Many times, it’s just not worth the
losses,” she said.
Yinka Awosanya
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