Autodesk Africa Offers a Two Weeks Amnesty to Software Pirates

Autodesk Africa the vendors of the popular 3D graphics design solution, Autodesk, has announced an amnesty campaign where people using pirated Autodesk solutions will not face any legal charges until 30th April. The users need only to approach local Autodesk channel partners to purchase legal versions of AutoCAD and related software products without fear of retroactive prosecution.

Autodesk aims to increase the uptake of the software through legal channels as opposed to the current situation where most of its solutions used locally have not been acquired through the legal channels.

Eric Mule, the Managing Director of Autodesk’s distribution partner in East Africa, WorldsView Technologies announced that the company has made progress in improving the convenience to their customers, who can now purchase genuine Autodesk software from 23 local approved partners throughout East Africa, 16 of which are in Kenya alone.

According to research conducted by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), most software customers in Africa would prefer to buy licensed software, but often don’t know where to find it. As a result, they resort to pirated copies that don’t carry any of the benefits associated with buying valid licensed software, including after sales support and regular upgrades.

The company also unveiled the Autodesk 2013 solution, which seeks to optimise African design and development through Building Information Modelling and Digital Prototyping.