KARACHI April 20: A leading firm in the financial service market having foreign associations and providing international trading services had to pay big price for using unlicensed software when its offices located here in Clifton were inspected under the High Court orders, said a press statement issued by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) on Friday.

“It reveals the pitfalls companies may face if they ignore the software copyright law and do not have adequate software management procedures in place,” warned a BSA spokesman.

According to the spokesman, the Nazir (Commissioner) of the court, backed by inspection orders issued by the Sindh High Court, along with police and BSA representatives inspected the group’s premises and found unlicensed software being used on its network of 62 computers.

The group, whose name has been withheld for legal reasons, was earlier warned to refrain from using pirated software, but it continued to violate the copyright law, he added.

He said the illegal use of computer programmes put company’s business at risk of closure, cost the country in tax revenue losses and deprived people of employment.

“It is in this context that the BSA has pledged a nationwide crackdown on companies who can afford to purchase legal software but they continue to flaunt copyright law by using unlicensed software,” the spokesman said.

He urged all big companies to use licensed software to avoid penalties and damage to their reputation.

He said the copyright law violators might face a fine up to Rs100,000, seizure of computers installed with illegal software and a three-year sentence.