More than 300 tenants of the SM malls in Metro Manila were given until the end of the year to comply with government’s anti-piracy campaign, an official of the Optical Media Board said.

Lawyer Rosendo Meneses, who is currently executive director of OMB, said SM is the first mall in the country to voluntarily act on government’s nationwide campaign to “deny the market�? of unlicensed software being sold in retails shops.

Meneses said OMB’s intensified campaign in some malls prompted SM to sign a deal with the agency mandated to also regulate optical media use in the country.

All tenants engaged in computer and computer-related businesses within SM malls in Metro Manila will be required to get a permit from OMB.

Once all tenants have complied, the mall will be given a seal of compliance, Meneses said.

He said that other malls in the country were not as cooperative as SM.

“We’ve written all mall owners, lining up educational campaigns. We also intend to go to the provinces soon,�? the government executive said.

OMB has also started talking to Internet café associations regarding a similar deal that would allow members to eliminate software piracy.

Netopia, an Internet café chain of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., has already secured a license from OMB to allow its 86 branches to offer optical media burning services, he said.

OMB is a part of the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team, wherein the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation are also members.