... in response to Funny message, posted by jon on Sep 18, 2005LOL! Well, at least they are getting a little more original with the scams. Are you going to help her out and send her the $2,500? :-)
She probably heard on the news recently that the government is cracking down on unlicensed software (read below) and it gave her an idea for another new scam. But she should have asked for $125 (P7,000) per unit. Maybe the “Please help! My sister needs an operation” scam is getting old?
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SunStar Bacolod
Monday, September 19, 2005
Internet café owners ask moratorium from Microsoft
By Erwin Ambo S. Delilan
SOME Internet café owners in Bacolod City are asking for a moratorium from Microsoft Philippines, Inc. (MPI) on the use of "unlicensed" Microsoft Operating System (OS).
A source from the NBI-Manila said after the conduct of the series of raids in Bacolod and some parts of Negros Occidental, several Internet cafés and even educational institutions opted to close shop in fear that they might be totally closed or penalized with big amount.
Some 200 internet cafes in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City have also allegedly temporarily closed down their shops for fear of being raided.
Internet café owners in the area have had asked assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to also seek for moratorium from MPI.
They are asking DTI to appeal to MPI to give them a moratorium of three years to purchase the licensed software.
But DTI said they are not sure yet whether MPI would be amenable to this request.
Like in Bacolod, Internet cafés in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan are now using the free Linux software rather than be caught using unlicensed MOS.
For two weeks now, operatives from NBI-Manila and MPI representatives are conducting "surprise" raids all throughout the country.
About 13 Internet cafés in the downtown area in Bacolod have been padlock due to illegal use of MOS.
Some schools in the city also temporarily closed their computer laboratories for the same problem.
An official of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R), on the other hand, clarified that they are now licensed Microsoft subscriber so they were not included among the institutions that were recommended to be closed for a while.
NBI-Bacolod Special Agent Arnel Sigue said Internet cafés or school administrators can have their appeal for certain "grace period" from MPI until they could secure the licensed MOS.
The appeal, said Sigue, must be addressed directly to MPI and not to the NBI.
Sigue said NBI will only act if there is a complaint forwarded to their office.
However, if there is an appeal, probably MPI would think otherwise and will suspend temporarily the conduct of surprise raids, he said.
In Bacolod, only two computer shops are reportedly licensed distributor of MOS - Data Link and BCG Computers.
But from the original P5,000, the cost per Microsoft program now surged to P7,000, the source said.
Cesilio Salaud, former internet cafe owner in Cagayan de Oro said, they were able to purchase a licensed Microsoft software for P30,000 per package.
A package, he said, is good for one or two computer units.
Thus, he said, it would be very difficult to comply with the license for one or two computers.
Added Salaud, for this reason Internet cafe' owners cannot be blamed for not getting the licensed software because it is very expensive and the one or two computer policy for one license is not feasible for the business to prosper.
Salaud said Linux could be used instead of Microsoft but it is "not very user friendly as compared to using Microsoft software."
NBI Special Investigator Edgardo Kawada said that those who were caught using MOS illegally will be charged of violation of Intellectual Property Rights Law.
The punishment, stressed Kawada, aside from imprisonment, the violator may be charged of P150,000 cash fine for every computer unit that was programmed in MOS.
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