Ruling victory for Federation Against Software Theft
Government-appointed independent investigator accepted almost half of the Federation's final report
The Federation Against Software Theft (The Federation) is claiming a victory in its ongoing fight against software piracy after a government-appointed independent investigator accepted almost half its recommendations in his final report last week.
Results of the Independent Review of Intellectual Property (IP), commissioned by the Treasury and carried out by Andrew Gowers, revealed the need for targeted reforms. These include strengthening the enforcement of IP rights, tougher sentencing for peer-to-peer copyright offenders and more financial backing to help Trading Standards crack down on rogue traders.
Julian Heathcote-Hobbins, senior legal counsel at The Federation, told CRN: “We are pleased that the review came out in such a pro-industry stance. Resellers should warn their customers that Trading Standards can now implement an inspection regime and turn up without warning if a firm is believed to be involved in illegal copy-right issues.”
Early estimates believe the Gowers recommendations could become UK law as early as next year, although the govenrment will have to conduct a lengthy review.
Michala Alexander, UK head of anti-piracy at Microsoft, said: “We welcome what has been proposed in the report. A lot of our work is around IP enforcement in the channel and anything that strengthens enforcement against IP theft is welcome.”