A pharmaceutical and an auditing firm in the central city of Da Nang have been detected to use cracked software by inspectors of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Hi-tech Crime Prevention Police Bureau.

This is the first time an inspection of pirated software was carried out in Da Nang, a big city in central Vietnam.

The two first violators are the Da Nang Pharma JS Company (DANAPHA) and AAC Auditing and Accounting Co., Ltd.

Inspectors found out that DANAPHA used a lot of pirated software, including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Symatec Antivirus and AutoDesk. As a major business in Da Nang, DANAPHA’s violation is considered to negatively affect the development of Vietnam’s information technology industry.

Meanwhile, AAC allowed its employees to use cracked software of Microsoft Windows, Office and Server. In addition, AAC has a server that is linked with 35 stations, which were installed with pirated Windows XP and Office.

AAC is a member of the Polaris International auditing corporation. It is one of the first auditing firms established in Vietnam.

According to Vietnam’s laws, violators of the Law on Intellectual Property may be fined up to VND500 million ($25,000).

The campaign against pirated software in Da Nang has just begun.

DT