NBI raids Anino Games Inc. for piracy

[kopinux]

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakin...oftware-piracy

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.

the fuel for software freedom day!

[jemate18]

Originally Posted by kopinux http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakin...oftware-piracy the fuel for software freedom day!

the price for using pirated software intentionally........

[Takmadeus]

Its very sad that germany and phillipines are doing similar things, busting small developers who eventually might come with new ideas. That's why it is better to go opensource, you do not have to worry for copyright infringement and you will count with the help of developers and users alike

[sonofusion82]

in some countries, the cost of those sofwares is so high that they probably cost more than 6 months of a developer's salary. so software piracy is pretty rampant in those countries that almost everyone is doing it that no guilt is involved. which unfortunately means free open souce softwares has not much reason to exist. hopefully, this will raise some awareness on piracy and also lead some to go open source direction..

[loell]

oh well, same old modus.. let them use pirated software and bust them later when they become profitable..

this is a big fish, so i don't feel sympathetic, i'm sure they can and will pay now.

[kenweill]

the government themselves are using pirated softwares.
but guess what, they we're not been raided. coz they dont raid government agencies/companies. only private companies.

i know someone before, who works as a raider of pirated copies of windows. she said that they are raiding private companies but not government agencies. she also said that they themselves, are using pirated copies of windows, other than open souce. they need something that only works in windows and they have no other choice but to use pirated softwares. as license if out of the budget...

[pendletone]

Originally Posted by kenweill the government themselves are using pirated softwares. but guess what, they we're not been raided. coz they dont raid government agencies/companies. only private companies.

that's so true. i work for the government and, as much as i hate to admit, we do use pirated software in our offices.

having said that, i doubt that even they (NBI) are using legitimate copies of proprietary software themselves.

come to think of it, if only our government embrace free & open source software we may have a "cleaner" government...well at least on a software level, that is.

[jemate18]

Originally Posted by pendletone "cleaner" government...well at least on a software level, that is.

Cleaner government sounds nice......even on the software level...... at least, still clean......

[Samhain13]

I wonder how these guys react when they see people buying their games from those stalls in Quiapo. Hummm...

As to government offices using pirated software, I can attest to that too. I know someone who bought a laptop recently and when the trial MS Office 2007 expired, someone in her office just installed a non-trial version in her lappie. This person works for the Philippine National Police. Hehe.

But it's not only software/new media that's pirated by people in government. Remember that apparel can be pirated too. And I've witnessed at least one anti-piracy raid wherein the arresting officer was wearing a fake Polo shirt. Now, that's irony for you. Hehe!

Anyway, I find this interesting:

Anino Games President Niel Dagondon released the following statement to INQUIRER.net after the raid, "the company has always been willing to work with AutoDesk... "[A]ttacks such as these are damaging not just to Anino and its staff but to the entire Philippine creative and outsourcing industry in general. This has a negative effect not only on Anino's operations but to the reputation of Philippine offshore service providers as a whole composed of dollar-earning companies whose clients are mainly based abroad" http://www.gameops.net/2008/09/nbi-r...or-piracy.html

What "attack" was the guy talking about? Why should this event be damaging to anyone else's reputation? And if Anino had always been willing to work with AutoDesk, then why didn't Anino get legitimate copies of AutoDesk software to begin with?

[echo2knight]

Originally Posted by Samhain13 What "attack" was the guy talking about? Why should this event be damaging to anyone else's reputation? And if Anino had always been willing to work with AutoDesk, then why didn't Anino get legitimate copies of AutoDesk software to begin with?

Yeah... I completely agree with you. If the government is willing to raid these private corporations, the same government should first come clean. They must use "Legitimate copies of Windows!", if they are not able to obtain these licenses due to lack or funding, then they should at least try to embrace FOSS.

"Leadership by Example" principle..... a tried and tested principle!