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In response to media enquiries raised at the press conference today (September 4) on the launch of the Genuine Business Software Campaign organised by the Intellectual Property Department (IPD), Customs and Excise Department (C&E), and Business Software Alliance (BSA), the Head of the Hong Kong Customsˇ¦ Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau, Mr Ben Ho, reiterated that the Customs and Excise Department remained unwavering in its commitment to taking law enforcement actions against criminal copyright infringement activities.
He said, ˇ§Irrespective of whether a company has joined the Campaign, Hong Kong Customs will look into copyright infringement activities case by case. Once there is sufficient evidence against an infringer, Customs officers will take appropriate enforcement actions in accordance with the Copyright Ordinance.ˇ¨
Under the Copyright Ordinance, anyone who knowingly possesses pirated computer software in the course of business commits a criminal offence. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum penalty of $50,000 per infringing copy and four years' imprisonment.
Customs investigations conducted into end-user piracy cases since 2001 have yielded a total of 128 cases, with 184 persons arrested and 1,016 sets of computers seized.
Previous public education efforts by the Government reveal that some companies do not fully appreciate the merits of having proper software asset management and may have inadvertently used unlicensed software in business.
Mr Ho said, ˇ§Hong Kong Customs fully supports the industry initiative of enhancing information technology governance among companies. We strongly urge companies to participate in this Campaign. It is an opportunity offered for companies to check up the status of software used in their business in order to avoid themselves from breaking the law.
ˇ§This Campaign aims at helping the companies by facilitating corporate software legalization,ˇ¨ Mr Ho said, noting that Business Software Alliance had assured participants that it would not initiate civil proceedings in Hong Kong against the Campaign participants during a six-month assurance period.
Mr Ho added, ˇ§We strive to partner with the industry in the course of intellectual property rights protection.ˇ¨
Ends/Monday, September 4, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:35
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