Roughly P2.7-million worth of allegedly smuggled games software were confiscated while several people were arrested following simultaneous raids in 12 shops in Metro Manila earlier this week, a Criminal Investigation and Detection Group official said Wednesday.
The Philippines remains on the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) “watch list” of countries where pirated and counterfeit goods are readily available.
Illegal copying of computer programs in Asia cost businesses $21 billion in lost sales last year and China was on course to set a dubious new record—overtaking the US in losses caused by software piracy.
Almost half of the world’s personal computer users acquire software through illegal means most or all of the time, according to a survey by the Business Software Alliance on PC users’ behaviors and attitudes toward software piracy and intellectual property rights.
