The Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) on Saturday held a demonstration to protest against the arrest of President PCA Karachi Khushnood Aftab by Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) under piracy charges. The demonstrators gathered at Fazal-e-Haq Road, Blue Area, also registered their protest against the raid, arrest and harassment policy persuaded by a leading computer software company.
The offence quoted was the irresponsible installation of Microsoft Windows at one of the outlets of the said company, which is one of the leading resellers of this software company's products in Pakistan. On the occasion, the computers' vendors community expressed their full support and solidarity with the President PCA Karachi.
Abdullah Malik, President PCA Islamabad, while speaking on the occasion, strongly reacted against the recent move by the Microsoft Inc. He said that the computer industry do not support piracy but this was not a reasonable way to trap a senior computer vendor like the way it was done. Several other ways and means can be explored to minimise the piracy of software. Seminars, talks, literature and motivation on moral grounds can be made to stop piracy.
Senior community member and Vice President PCA Central and Arshad Janjua, General Secretary PCA Central, said if Microsoft will not immediately withdraw the case against Khushnood Aftab, the community may go for a boycott of Microsoft products. Furqan Murtaza, Vice President, Irfan-ul-Haq, Vice President, Ibrar-ul-Haq, Joint secretary, Executive members A.R. Tahir, Khawar Idrees, Haseeb Ahmad and other office bearers of PCA Islamabad condemned the act of harassment by the software company.
They called for immediate withdrawal of the case against Khushnood Aftab. Munawar Iqbal, central President of Pakistan Computer Association, who is on a visit to USA and Canada nowadays, telephonically addressed the Executive Committee members of PCA and strongly condemned the act of harassment against the computer vendors community.
He asked the office bearers of PCA to go for all out efforts to protest against the move made by the Microsoft. The computer vendors further said that if the company will not come out with a pragmatic and amicable solution in this regard, we will be compelled and left with no option but to go for a countrywide boycott of this leading software company.
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