Trading Standard's campaign to root out software pirates has been given a boost by the announcement that the Federation Against Software Theft leant its weight to the operation.Trading Standards has announced that starting today it will be cold-calling resellers, beginning in Cardiff, to identify counterfeit software, and will be using FAST's expertise to determine whether or not the product is an illegal copy.
Speaking about the agreement between the two organisations, John Lovelock, director general for FAST, said: "Without the FAST, TS could only identify copyright offences. The FAST identifies the software and provides an expert to confirm that it is counterfeit."
Dave Holland, speaking on behalf of Cardiff's Trading Standards department added: “Trading standards may now work in cooperation with representative bodies to enforce the law surrounding copyright infringement.
"The law has strengthened our position, giving copyright offences the attention they should have received 13 years ago when first entered into the statute book. Trading Standards can not operate with its hands tied – we can now move forward to address something that has been ignored for far too long."
However, Lovelock was keen to stress that the operation was not out to demonise the people it is trying to help: "The campaign is not out to get the resellers, it want to work with them up the food chain to identify the supplier at the top. The Fast feels sorry for resellers, as there are so many companies in a chain that it is not unusual for them to get caught in the illegal software trap.
"If it is seems good to be true then it usually is. If a reseller is concerned about the software it is purchasing then contact the vendor or contact the FAST and we will confirm as to whether it is an original or not. There will be no come back on the reseller, by doing this, but we will want to know where they received it from."
Advertisement
Related Stories
- Kaspersky ditches BSA over anti-piracy bill Dec 6th 2011 at 2:27AM
- US seizes fake football jersey sites Nov 27th 2011 at 11:11PM
- Music and film industry presses BT to block the Pirate Bay Nov 6th 2011 at 10:34PM
- Unscrupulous anti-piracy lawyers suspended Aug 2nd 2011 at 3:35PM
- Ubisoft claims 'always-on' DRM reduces piracy Aug 1st 2011 at 1:35PM
- High court orders BT to block pirate website Jul 28th 2011 at 5:49PM
- US ISPs agree to disconnect file sharers Jul 11th 2011 at 12:50PM
- British student faces US extradition and jail Jun 20th 2011 at 9:29AM
- Microsoft seeks 'own personal unfair competition laws' Mar 28th 2011 at 8:26AM
- Piracy report says prices to blame in developing world Mar 16th 2011 at 12:46AM
Follow Follow this article if you would like to receive notifications of updates.
Add a new comment
You need to be logged in to post comments. If you do not have an account then please register.
Comments
0 comments
There are no comments yet, be the first to add one!