Bizgram Kena Fined!

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Oct 22, 2008
SOFTWARE PIRACY
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>2 Sim Lim shops to pay Microsoft $70k
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Chua Hian Hou
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>




<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->TWO computer retailers in Sim Lim Square accused of peddling counterfeit Microsoft programs have agreed to pay $70,000 in damages, the software giant said yesterday.
The shops' directors will also do 144 hours of community service, which includes providing IT services to charities, as part of an out-of-court settlement.
In an April raid, 300 counterfeit copies of high-end Microsoft programs, worth $65,000, were seized from the two Sim Lim shops, Best Bytes and Powersys. It was the biggest such haul in Singapore to date.
Another shop, Bizgram, had one copy of the China-made counterfeits, which are so good they are practically indistinguishable from the originals, Microsoft said yesterday.
Best Bytes and Powersys, the retailers paying the damages, have since closed down.
The shops 'wanted to settle' the matter out of court, said Microsoft's corporate attorney for intellectual property Jonathan Selvasegaram.
Other Sim Lim retailers cheered the crackdown.
Shops peddling the cheaper pirated software enjoy an unfair advantage by undercutting legitimate players, said Cybermind manager Chia Hung King.
While Microsoft is well known for its tough stance on software piracy, the software giant yesterday also handed out goodies, like plaques and decals, to 11 Sim Lim Square retailers that sold genuine software.
It marks the first time the company has tried the scheme, designed to let shoppers know which retailers they can trust.
National serviceman Alvin Ng, who was shopping for computer parts at the complex, said the initiative was of 'some use'. 'It shows the shop has some integrity. A shop that sells pirated software probably doesn't have a problem cheating us in other ways.'

 

[DIVISION1]

Buy original, do the right thing.

 

[makapaaa]

Buy original, do the right thing.

Agreed. Down with Fake Meleetocracy.

 

[fishbuff]

go for linux and other open source software!!

Goodness, still linger around those microshit products.

 

[hunter]

accused of peddling counterfeit Microsoft programs

Why would people want to buy a counterfeit Microsoft software?

For Vista, it is pre-installed ie. it is free / comes with the computer

For MS Office: I can either buy the Microsoft Office Student Edition which is good enough. If I don't want to spend the few hundred dollars to buy the Microsoft Office Student Edition, I just download OpenOffice which is free and Office compatible.

So tell me, why do people need to buy counterfeit Microsoft software?

 

[halsey02]

Buy original, do the right thing.

Buy Microsoft products, do the right thing!, have a familar ring!

 

[vinohai]

Not only Microsoft products, other products also fake at these shop bizgram, I bought a motherboard, cpu and other stuff, after just 15 mins I want to change the motherboard to small one as it does not fit my casing, the shop staff and boss doesn't want to change to other model. He simply said the MB not belong to them. I have the receipt and MB not even opened, but they refused to change and said is not their item. After sales, the service is very bad and unacceptable.