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Hong Kong Customs today (September 17) reminded computer shop owners that selling pirated software in the course of any trade or business is a criminal offence.
Under the Copyright Ordinance, anyone who knowingly uses pirated software in business or sells the pirated software in the course of any trade or business commits a criminal offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of $50,000 per infringing copy and imprisonment for four years.
In June, a 36-year-old male computer shop owner was sentenced at the Tuen Mun Magistratesˇ¦Courts to five months' imprisonment for having infringed the Copyright Ordinance and sold computers installed with unlicensed software.
This is the first time that a jail term was imposed in such cases, and the penalty was the heaviest imposed so far.
On March 13, Customs officers raided the concerned computer shop in Yuen Long and found that the shop owner sold computers installed with unlicensed software.
During the operation, they seized 27 pirated software discs and a computer installed with unlicensed software, worth about $5,000. The pirated software included operating system and office application software.
Hong Kong Customs will continue stringent anti-piracy enforcement to protect intellectual property rights, a spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department stressed.
Ends/Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:25
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