This is big news coming from the Philippines, local games developer Anino games was raided by the NBI for alleged copyright infringement.
MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided the office of Philippine game development company Anino Games Inc. August 22 for alleged software copyright infringement.
The raid resulted in the seizure of 36 computers that were installed with alleged illegal copies of several applications from software developer Autodesk Inc. Among the allegedly pirated software that were found were 3D Studio Max 2008, 3D Studio Max 9, AutoDesk Maya 8.5, AutoCAD 2008, AutoDesk Maya 2008 and Combustion 4.
A complaint was filed at the NBI’s Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD) by AutoDesk, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The group has been promoting the use of original software and seeking prosecution against alleged copyright violators, BSA said in a statement.
Read the full story here.
Pretty sad story especially since I really like anino games since they used to be based in Taft Avenue before they moved to Makati. This story raises some interesting issues, like we know that piracy is bad but with the cost of software licenses like AutoCAD – $ 4,000 which is probably more than what most companies from 3rd world countries make in a month, how can they compete in the international market? Should they settle for other lower end, open-source programs like blender? Another thing that I find interesting is that the government tries to ‘attack’ companies like anino but they themselves (government agencies) use pirated copies of software.
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