Feb 10, 2010
By Chua Hian Hou
Announced on Wednesday, the initiative marks a renewed push by the mall to buff a reputation tarnished in recent years by repeat police raids on computer and video game outlets peddling pirated software and modified game consoles.
SIM Lim Square retailers found peddling pirated software and games will be blacklisted and barred from participating in the popular tech haunt's marketing programmes.
Announced on Wednesday, the initiative marks a renewed push by the mall to buff a reputation tarnished in recent years by repeat police raids on computer and video game outlets peddling pirated software and modified game consoles.
Of the mall's 500 odd shops, more than 100 sell computer-related products like computers, software and game consoles.
Retailers discovered selling bootleg software will be barred from the mall's STARetailer programme. Retailers on this programme get a poster-sized, star-shaped sticker to paste in front of their shops; there are also notices all around the mall recommending visitors shop at STARetailer-certified outlets.
If a retailer is one of the outlets that have already obtained the certification, it will lose this certification and cannot reapply for at least nine months, said Sim Lim Square managing agent CKH Strata Management's managing director Chan Kok Hong.
These black sheep will also be excluded from the mall's marketing activities like newspaper advertisements and special offer posters, he added.
