By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided the office of Philippine game development company Anino Games Inc last August 22 for alleged software copyright infringement.
The raid resulted in the seizure of 36 computers that were installed with alleged illegal copies of several applications from software developer Autodesk Inc. Among the pirated software that were supposedly found were 3D Studio Max 2008, 3D Studio Max 9, AutoDesk Maya 8.5, AutoCAD 2008, AutoDesk Maya 2008 and Combustion 4.
A complaint was filed at the NBI’s Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD) by AutoDesk, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The group has been promoting the use of original software and seeking prosecution against alleged copyright violators, BSA said in a statement.
Anino, the first commercial game development firm in the Philippines, is a member of the Game Development Association of the Philippines. The group’s president, Gabriel Dizon was unavailable for comment as of this writing.
Anino Games President Niel Dagondon confirmed the government raid. In a statement given to INQUIRER.net, Dagondon said the company “has always been willing to work with AutoDesk” to help companies like them find viable solutions.
Dagondon also implored the BSA to help them instead of attacking them. Such attacks, he said, could force other development firms to either close down or “resort to undesirable means.”
“[A]ttacks such as these are damaging not just to Anino and its staff but to the entire Philippine creative and outsourcing industry in general. This has a negative effect not only to Anino’s operations but to the reputation of Philippine offshore service providers as a whole composed of dollar earning companies whose clients are mainly based abroad,” Dagondon said.
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