CID officials from CPS record exhibits as Philly Jemba (right) of UPRS holds the dubbed microsoft CDs from Infopoint shop before the culprits were taken to CPS

By Samuel Balagadde

MICROSOFT in conjunction with the Uganda Performing Rights Society (UPRS) have nabbed Asians in Kampala with pirated computer software.

The Asians were caught during an anti-piracy operation coordinated by the society in the city centre and its suburbs.

The two Asians were manning Infopoint shop that deals in computers and accessories on Kamu Kamu Plaza on Entebbe Road. They were nabbed by the Police and taken to Central Police Station (CPS) for interrogation.

James Wasula, the general secretary of the UPRS, said copyrighted software was highly pirated by computer dealers.

“Almost all types of desktop software are pirated. To a large degree, we see desktop operating systems, desktop applications plus server and data centre software affected.” Lion China Computers on Kampala Road was also nabbed with duplicated software CDs that were taken to CPS as exhibits.

Michael Berenju, the enforcement officer with Microsoft East Africa, said over 86% of all used software was pirated, leading to an increase in computer viruses.

Berenju noted that the increase in computer viruses boosts anti-virus service providers.

He said software piracy had led to revenue losses of around $30m (sh68.2b) to all firms in the software industry including Microsoft.