82 companies warned of software copyright infringement

As of June 30, the highest fine for copyright infringement will increase to 500 million dong, equivalent to $29,000. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) has sent warnings to 82 big companies in Hanoi and HCM City.

Police have discovered many companies using cracked software programmes.

As part of a campaign to enforce the implementation of copyright protection in Vietnam, the MCST’s inspectors conducted surveys and sent warnings to 53 big firms in Hanoi and 29 in HCM City about consequences of software copyright violation.

The warnings say that the MCST strongly recommends that businesses obey the Vietnamese rules on software copyright protection. Any detected violation will be dealt with under the current law.

Inspectors also asked these firms to submit reports on the numbers and brands of computers at their offices, software programmes installed in these computers and software licences.

Protection of intellectual property, including software copyrights, is a burning issue and a great concern of the Vietnamese government. The government on May 13 issued a decision on administrative fines for copyright infringement, under which, the highest fine will increase to 500 million dong as of June 30, 2009.

Last year, the rate of software copyright violation in Vietnam stood at 85%, the same as in 2007, thought he country has made efforts to fight software copyright infringement.

VietNamNet/VnMedia