Slow news day much?

NBI agents seize 18 computers with fake software.

Ah. It's nice to know that the NBI is out there protecting the interests of multi-national software corporations instead of finding out who bombed Glorietta. Wow, 18 computers! That's what... .0001% of all the computers in Metro Manila running pirated software?

Not that there's anything wrong with enforcing the Intellectual Property Law. It's just that the headline is laughable given the number of computers with fake software even in government offices. Pustahan, NBI computers run on pirated copies of XP, too (you know, the one with the Nissan loading screen). And their newsletters , like most other offices', are laid out with unauthorized Adobe CS2.

Of course it's probably an engineering contractor or architectural firm running the latest AutoCAD bought from Shoppesville or the St. Francis Tiangge. Which means they're making lots of money off pirated software and actually do deserve to be fined at least. Despite my pro-piracy stance, I draw the line at business-related software since it's not just for plain entertainment.

But suing them (or having the NBI conduct a raid on their offices) isn't the most prudent course of action. To promote original software they should look to Blizzard's technique. The producers of Warcraft had agents going around the various small gaming cafes offering software licenses. No need to snitch, just give them an affordable opportunity to become legit.