FIA has initiated a crackdown on corporate users of unlicensed computer software.
Acting on a complaint, the FIA this week raided a large pharmaceutical company with offices in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The company has been accused of using pirated software, in other words, unlicensed software.
The production, sale, copy, purchase or usage of unlicensed software is an offense, publishable under Section 66 of Chapter XIV of the Copyright Ordinance 1962 and can lead to criminal prosecution for violation of the law.
The FIA raid resulted in the confiscation of computers loaded with unlicensed software, including Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. The use of unlicensed software by a large company of this nature reflects the scale to which the issue of software piracy has proliferated into penetrated the country.
