Customs officers have arrested eight men and two women in a crackdown on commercial organisations' use of pirated computer software in the course of business.
During the blitz, Customs officers searched the offices of seven companies doing business in engineering, design, advertising, printing and catering.
The arrestees were aged from 25 to 56. Officers seized a total of 85 computers installed with pirated software, mainly operating system and office application software, valued at about $360,000.
Customs’ Intellectual Property Investigation (Operations)’s Group Head Michael Kwan said at a press conference today that from January to November, the department had received 92 complaints concerning corporate piracy compared with 87 in the same period last year.
Customs will monitor the corporate piracy situation and strengthen communications with the industry. Mr Kwan also encouraged the public to report software piracy activities.
