As of the end of May, units directly under the control of Foshan City of Guangdong Province will complete the work of software legalization and each district is required to finish the work before the end of February next year. 

As of the end of February 2012, there were four districts in Foshan which did not complete the software legalization. Of 67 units, only 20 accomplished the work; 8 units did not fill in the form of "check and rectification on copyrighted software"; 39 units did not finish the initiative.

As the key content of the special campaign against IPR infringement and the manufacture and sales of counterfeit and shoddy goods carried out by the State Council, governmental agencies are required to use legitimate software. Vice Mayor of Foshan Mai Jiehua said the promotion and popularization of genuine software, protection of IPR and anti-piracy are the commitments China made during its accession to the WTO. To make the whole society enhance the awareness of IPR protection, government agencies must play a leading role in the use of legitimate software and set an example to resist piracy.

She stressed that all departments in each district must complete all the work in time. Later, municipal inspection teams will carry out supervision work. [Chinese version is available on citygf.com]

(Source: IPR in China)