TEAMS of 'piracy police' are to be set up inside all government bureaus and departments to ensure they do not use pirated software.
About 60 to 70 directorate-grade officers will be appointed this month to become intellectual property compliance officers.
They will conduct random checks on all 64,281 work stations and ensure staff follow laws on intellectual property.
Illegal software was discovered in the offices of the Housing Department last July.
An internal survey also found 13 per cent of the 8,000 microcomputers installed by the Housing Authority and the department itself were using unauthorised software.
The findings were considered a major blow to the Government's drive against software piracy. It is understood the new scheme was agreed during a meeting of department heads early last month.