Taking advantage of changes in the law that have strengthenedthe power of Trading Standards in its fight to protect intellectual propertyrights the first company has been inspected.
Earlier this year the law was used to raid a residentialproperty in East London but the latest move in Cardiff is being seen by the Federation AgainstSoftware Theft (FAST IiS) as a stepping up of the campaign against those using unlicensedproducts.
The investigation by Trading Standards of a business in Cardiff follows on the backof a campaign that FAST IiS ran in the Welsh capital to raise awareness of the needfor legal software.
Trading Standards started a full forensic inspection of a Cardiff-basedcompany yesterday and the agency intends taking similar action against other businesses.
“We want to help business meet legal requirements and remaincompetitive in the current economic climate. However, any businesses flagrantlybreaking the law without regard will be brought to account,” said Dave Holland,from Cardiff Trading Standards.
FAST IiS has been pushing Trading Standards to take more advantageof the powers set down in Section 107A of the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act,which give them the right to make unannounced searches of businesses.
“If the investigations show that any are committing offencesthen the natural course of activity is enforcement.Software piracy seriously harms content creators and it enables firms to cutcosts and compete unfairly with legitimate firms,” said John Lovelock, chief executiveat FAST IiS.
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