Software Pirate Sentenced with No Probation Granted. First of Cases of Its Kind in Taiwan.

　A software pirate distributing pirated copies of software online received a 2-year sentence with no probation.  This case has drawn wide attention also because of the damages the plaintiffs claimed, which is some TWD100 million, a record-high amount.

　The pirate was charged with making illegal reproductions of software and selling them online for TWD8,000-10,000 per piece during the period from about July 2002 to about January 2005 earning a sum of about TWD2-3 million in profits.  According to the police, the defendant had illegally reproduced 457 software victimizing 17 right holders with the value of infringement amounts to over TWD100 million in total.

　In 2003, the Chiayi District Court ordered a company named Hsi Guo Technologies Co. (Chinese: 矽國科技) to pay the plaintiff companies a total of TWD22 million in damages (which is one of the highest amounts ever awarded) and run a notice of apology in local newspaper for making unauthorized copies of various computer software owned by, among others, Adobe and Microsoft.  The responsible person and the sale representative concerned were sentenced to 8 months and 7 months in prison respectively with a 3-month probation granted.  Last year, a company was busted for having installed a number of pirated copies of software for internal use without obtaining due license.  The court awarded TWD15.5 million to the plaintiff and ordered the corporate pirate to publish a notice of apology in local newspaper with the responsible person receiving an 8-month sentence on three years probation.  According to the court decisions on software piracy cases entered in the past three years, software pirates are facing penalty harsher than ever.  (2006.10)

/EMA