PASIG CITY, Philippines -- Antivirus firm Bitdefender is offering cheaper antivirus software in hopes of discouraging piracy of its software in the Philippines.

The lower pricing strategy of Bitdefender is part of a campaign, dubbed “Bit Piracy at its Own Game," which aims to encourage students to use original software applications.

The antivirus company has partnered with the De La Salle University, College of St. Benilde, University of Santo Tomas College of Engineering, Manila Central University and the Asia Pacific College to sell the cheaper software to students.

Under this initiative, the Bitdefender Antivirus 2009 software will cost P270, just slightly more expensive than antivirus software sold by software pirates.

The original price of the Bitdefender Antivirus is P1,500 (US$30). It is distributed in the Philippines by IPSystems, Inc.

Reducing the price of the software would effectively widen the Bitdefender market to students who often purchase hacked or pirated software, the company said.

"These pirated applications are cheap and are within the reach of students but these can either be incomplete or cannot be updated, which adds to the danger of using pirated software," Celis said.

Th Bitdefender Antivirus 2009 comes with web browser, email and messenger scanning, an anti-phishing feature, as well as battery-saving feature for notebook computers.