Jorge Sukarie comments on the results of the seizures in June

The president of ABES, Jorge Sukarie, gave an interview to CRN Brasil, commenting on the profile of companies that resell pirated software and the penalties for this type of crime (crn.itweb.com.br).
 
In July alone, 1,165 illegal media were seized in operations, with 61 resellers approached. The actions were supported by Abes, which maintains the Anonymous Reports of Software Piracy portal in partnership with the BSA (The Software Alliance).
 
1. Did the dealers involved in the police investigations also sell legal products or only illegal ones? Is there a reseller profile that sells illegal products?
 
Jorge Sukarie: These establishments generally sell computer equipment and electronic items and provide technical assistance on computers. It cannot be said that they only sell illegal products, even because they are companies that maintain a commercial point to serve the public, but, in the case of software, it is believed that these resellers install or update the programs on the computers, without inserting a version duly licensed by the manufacturer to accompany the machine. There are cases in which the customer himself is not aware of this, so it is important to be aware and demand the invoice for the installed products.
 
2. Is it possible that these resellers were illegally unknowingly? If yes, how?
 
Jorge Sukarie: It is unlikely that they are unaware, as the seized products are found on homemade media, pen-drives or HDs, without containing the respective packaging and/or invoice, and with a presentation that is not faithful to the copy licensed by the manufacturer usually found on the market. . As already mentioned, there is a great risk of the customer being deceived, as he takes his computer/notebook that often contains an original pre-installed license and, unknowingly, leaves with a more “complete”, or more “up to date” version totally pirate.
 
3. How should a reseller that is in an irregular situation do to regularize itself?
 
Jorge Sukarie: Resellers should look for an authorized distributor offering the desired brands. The main software manufacturers make their products available to the market through these distributors, where only technology companies have access to supply themselves and then offer them to the final customer.
 
4. What are the penalties for violators?
 
Jorge Sukarie: Software piracy can be criminally punished with imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years or a fine, and if the reproduction is intended for illegal trade, the penalty is imprisonment from 1 to 4 years and a fine, the same penalty applied to whoever exposes for sale, acquires, hides or stores, for commercial purposes, a copy produced in violation of copyright. In the patrimonial field, any of the crimes can give rise to the payment of compensation that can reach 3,000 times the value of each software used or reproduced illegally.
 
5. Is it possible to draw a parallel between the cost of selling legal and illegal software?
 
Jorge Sukarie: The negative consequences of selling illegal software are notorious. Reselling exposes you to a high risk, which is not necessarily linked to a benefit. The aggravating factor is that they also have consequences for these customers, who, in addition to having their computers vulnerable to failures, intrusions, data loss and viruses, can also suffer lawsuits and pay fines to the copyright holders of these software. That is, what could eventually be a measure to attract or not lose a customer, often becomes a nuisance that involves fines, indemnities, procedural costs and even the risk of “closing the doors”.
 
Number of resellers approached and material seized: