December 3, 2002	Tuesday	Ramazan 27,1423

KARACHI, Dec 2: The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has reminded business all over the country that the month-long grace period, which offered to them for getting legal software, is expiring on December 10.

“BSA will take legal action against companies which continue using pirated software after the given deadline,” a statement of BSA, a group formed by world’s leading software companies to reduce piracy, says.

The grace period has provided the national and multinational companies an opportunity to review their computer programmes and acquire the authorized software they need to get over the next eight days without facing any penalties for the past infringements.

Four of BSA members, Adobe, Symantec, Autodesk and Microsoft, have announced 30-90 per cent discount on their products to local business houses for becoming legal till December 10.

BSA has cited several reasons for companies to use legal software as piracy is theft of intellectual property of a person or a company which can cost in fine up to Rs200,000, confiscation of computers used for copying and imprisonment up to three years, if convicted.

According to copyright laws, software is owned by the person or company which produced it.