Decrease in Authors Rights Violations and Lawsuits

The District Attorney of the National District has registered a 60% drop from this time last year (2007) in lawsuits and complaints filed for the violation of Law 65-00 which protects Authors Rights.

“The illegal trade of false software threatens consumers, businesses and the economy,”

The District Prosecutor and Dominican Microsoft announced the implementation of a joint plan of action to combat the sophisticated illegal trade in software pirated and falsified in the Capital, Santo Domingo.

Attorney General Alejandro Moscoso Segarra, Microsoft manager Juan Lora and legal advisor Jaime Ángeles made the announcement at the celebration of the “World Fair Play Day.” This international celebration is going on in 49 countries on six continents including the Dominican Republic. Numerous simultaneous initiatives are underway around the world including campaigns to raise consciousness about intellectual property, engagements with partner companies, educational forums, local law enforcement training and new legal actions against software falsification and pirating.

 “There is more and more proof that well organized illegal international networks are involved in the falsification of software and other products to finance their activities. This is a worldwide problem with global sources of supplies. That being the case, we need to work together to stop this illegal trade,” said Mr. Moscoso Segarra.

He said the Prosecutor´s Office has cooperated with Microsoft, the National Police and the Customs offices using available intelligence to assure that the investigations culminate in the arrest and conviction of the counterfeiters.  

 “The illegal trade of false software threatens consumers, businesses and the economy,” said Mr. Segarra. “It is only possible to stop the counterfeiting and pirating of software on a worldwide level through this type of collaboration among governments and the private sector as well as through educating people on the value of intellectual property and how important it is to take action against the illegal sale of products and to let it be known that we will not stop until this criminal practice ends,” he added.

Moscoso Segarra said the actions taken by the prosecutor´s office has reduced by 60% the amount of lawsuits and complaints about the violation of Law 65-00 concerning Authors Rights. That figure is compared to this same time last year (2007).

Juan Lora, General Manager of Microsoft in the DR said, “Microsoft is taking these measures as part of its commitment to work with the communities, the government and the National Police to protect its clients but to also promote the value of intellectual property as a positive force and driver of innovation and growth for the country.”

Lora added that software pirating and counterfeiting is a sophisticated global business with a very negative impact especially on local consumers, businesses and economies.

“For that reason we especially appreciate the efforts being carried out by the courts and police in this struggle against pirating,” he added.

Daniel Santana, President of the National Association of Informatics Companies (ANEINFO) said the high level of pirating in the country has been one of the causes for the drop in income of the association’s members.  “The illegal trade of software, in addition to threatening consumers with the serious consequences of its use, we are directly affected by the near paralysis of sales. We appreciate the efforts being made by the prosecutor and Microsoft to raise consumer awareness, protect this sector and eliminate pirating,” commented Santana.  

More than a third of PCs in the world do not have licensed software or contain some kind of pirated software. The global economic losses caused by pirated software are causing legitimate businesses significant amount of money: In 2007, lost revenue was estimated at nearly $50 billion dollars. In the DR, the amount was approximately $40 million dollars.

World Initiative

Global Anti-Piracy Day provides 24-hour information on the range of education initiatives and legal actions that take place on an ongoing basis in local markets around the world. For example, Microsoft today announced that it had partnered with the American Chamber of Commerce in Brazil to launch a new blog to raise awareness among educators about the importance of teaching young people about innovation and the high cost of piracy. In Turkey, Microsoft announced it is providing the country’s Ministry of Justice with training sessions on cyber crimes and their impact and has launched a Get Genuine campaign to teach customers how to confirm that their Microsoft software is genuine. In Italy, Microsoft began an employee anti-piracy ambassador program to educate family and friends through informal social networks. And in the United States, Microsoft took action to protect its customers and partners by filing 20 civil lawsuits in federal court in nine states against resellers alleged to be selling computers with preloaded unlicensed and/or counterfeit Microsoft Windows XP Professional and other versions of Microsoft Office software.

Consumer Protection

Counterfeit software exposes consumers to the risk of viruses, worms and other damaging code such as spyware and Trojan horses. Customers expect to receive original, high quality software but when falsified copies are uploaded into their computers, they can cause permanent damage and prevent the machine from working properly.  This presents a risk in terms of security violations and loss of business data, ruined reputations and the need to invest thousands of dollars to recover losses caused by corrupted software installed in individual workstations.

Microsoft’s Genuine Software Initiative is aimed at helping businesses and consumers understand and avoid the risks of using counterfeit software. For example, online validation tools for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office make it easy for customers to quickly verify whether their software is genuine. Should the software end up being counterfeit, customers are provided with information on what they can do to secure a legitimate copy of the software.