Major company recently charged

The company, which supplies international makers of automobiles, home electronics, office equipment and other precision products, allegedly used unlicensed CAD (computer-aided design) software to design tools and moulds and also used unlicensed word processing, accounting and dictionary software.

Thai police raided the company based on a tip-off. This represents one of the largest software-copyright infringement cases ever brought against a corporate end-user in Thailand.

The company was raided after a one-month investigation and a court order, said Police Maj-General Visut Vanichbut, commander of the Economic and Technical Crimes Suppression Division (Ecotec). At least 38 of the company's computers are suspected of containing unlicensed software.

"We believe this company has broken Thailand's intellectual property laws. Such acts undermine the economy of Thailand and the country's IT sector," said Pol Colonel Sarayut Pultunya of Ecotec.

"Our enforcement team is dedicated to protecting the intellectual property rights of innovators in Thailand. Business people who knowingly or unknowingly use unlicensed software face fines and business disruption."

Businesses that wanted to certify that their software is fully licensed should first perform a software audit to identify software that has been installed in their computers. They should then check their list of software against the software licences that they have previously purchased. Businesses are recommended to implement a software asset-management practice in their organisation so that the use of software can be closely monitored, said Tarun Sawney, director of anti-piracy in the Asia region for the Business Software Alliance, which campaigns on behalf of software manufacturers.

The alliance offers resources for companies that want to implement the practice, he said.