The country’s budget and the companies that produce software are affected by the fact that the software copyright is not protected in Moldova. The representative of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) in Moldova Daniel Martin told a news conference at IPN that piracy reached alarming rates.

Daniel Martin said that according to international studies, the states that ensure the protection of software copyright have a prosperous economy because the industry develops, the investors have confidence, while the software companies pay taxes into the state budget.

According to Daniel Martin, multiple events to inform the people about the risks of using unlicensed programs have been staged for 7 years, since BAS came to Moldova. The police were asked to become involved by carrying out raids. These acts led to a slight decline in the piracy rate, but the phenomenon wasn’t stopped.

After the reform was initiated at the Ministry of the Interior, there was created a division for investigation the violations of intellectual rights. BAS became involved and organized a number of training seminars for police officers to help them identify cases of illegal use of software programs.

Daniel Martin also said that they are now working on a new method of discovering counterfeit programs. BAS will also launch a campaign to inform the pope about the use of licensed programs. Specialists will go to schools to directly tell the children about the dangers of using unlicensed programs.

The Software Alliance is the leading advocate for the global software industry before governments and in the international marketplace. It is an association of world-class companies that invest billions of dollars annually to create software solutions that spark the economy and improve modern life.