The Ministry of Justice yesterday confirmed that it will launch a series of large-scale campaigns to crack down on pirated computer software starting May 1 -- in an effort to show its determination in protecting intellectual property rights.
Both the ministry and the Business Software Alliance are currently gathering evidence from a number of business enterprises and school networks across the nation. The ministry is set to sweep out pirated computer software immediately after the alliance submits the collected evidence on May 1.
The ministry's plan was first uncovered on the Internet by an e-mail entitled "Watch out: May 1," in which an Internet surfer revealed that the ministry has already targeted certain business corporations and academic institutes that are suspected of using pirated computer software and is ready to take action at the beginning of next month.
In response to the e-mail, the ministry confirmed the report and announced its war against piracy yesterday, pledging to crack down on counterfeiting to protect intellectual property rights in Taiwan.
The ministry has ordered the prosecutors' office of the Taiwan High Court to implement a program drawn up by the Executive Yuan to crack down on counterfeiting, a spokesman said.
He said that the crackdown will produce fruitful results very soon.
"As citizens of a developed nation," he said, "the people of Taiwan have no excuse to engage in intellectual piracy."
Employees who rat on their companies for using pirated computer software may be awarded up to NT$1 million, the association said.
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