The police identified over 60 legal entities that made profit from illegally using software, without the consent of the copyright owners and without purchasing it officially. The police also investigate 587 natural persons who used the same products through different torrent-like portals, both in the country and abroad, IPN reports, quoting the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Among the software programs used are Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Corel Draw, ArchiCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD and 3Ds Max. As a result of over 40 searches, there were started more than 50 administrative cases. Measures are now taken to identify other persons who illegally use computer programs.
Under the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Copyright Treaty, the software is protected as the literary works are, regardless of the form or way an idea or information is expressed, so as to increase the information security level and to protect intellectual property.
According to the last national report on the observance of intellectual property rights in the software industry in Moldova, a study carried out by the Business Software Alliance revealed a global software piracy rate of 42% for 2011, the commercial value of software theft reaching US$63.4 billion.
