O Globo, 23/07/2005

The National Council for Combating Piracy (CNCP), of the Ministry of Justice, completes nine months of activity celebrating significant advances in the repression of this type of crime. According to the CNCP, seizures of pirated CDs and DVDs grew 130% from January to May this year compared to the same period in 2004.

In the case of pirated software, the growth was 32%. And in the Triple Border with Paraguay and Argentina, the increase was 122%. In addition, the ministry is creating a special task force bringing together the Federal Revenue Service, the Highway Police and the Federal Police to jointly plan repressive actions.

? In the Triple Border alone, nearly 300 buses were seized. Did many of them transport, in addition to pirated goods, weapons, drugs and ammunition? observes Luís Paulo Barreto, president of CNCP.

According to him, the repression is beginning to take effect. Recently, the IRS banned the transit of blank CDs imported by Paraguay through the Port of Paranaguá. Annually, the neighboring country imported 170 million units for a domestic market of 3 million.

? With all this, has a fake DVD at the Paraguay Fair (known resale point in Brasília) already risen from R $ 6,50 to R $ 10? says Barreto.

However, the actions of the Council, which brings together representatives from ministries, the Federal Police, the Federal Revenue Service, the Legislature, the Judiciary and the private sector, are not limited to repression operations. The next phase is to create educational actions to make the population aware of the damage that piracy causes to the economy.

? Depending on the sector, for each street vendor who is working, are six to ten formal jobs lost? says Barreto.

To convince the population that piracy does not bring benefits, the CNCP wants to create a private fund for educational campaigns. For intellectual property specialist Rodrigo Bonan de Aguiar, partner at Daniel Advogados, the project is feasible, but it will need attention.

? We must ensure that the distribution between sectors is equitable and that there is no deviation in purpose.

Changing the law is also in the plans. The CNCP will propose an increase in penalties and measures such as allowing the IRS to conduct expertise on pirated products by sampling. Today, if a load with 2 million fake glasses is seized, the expertise must be performed on each piece. Federal deputy Júlio Lopes (PP-RJ) is optimistic, despite the turbulent environment caused by the political crisis:

? I think we can move forward, even though the merit committee quorum is hampered by CPIs.

Despite all efforts, the pirates still keep the lead. Your biggest advantage? The price. So the private sector has opened its eyes and is beginning to offer cheaper alternatives. Nike, for example, has the Torcedor Line, with Flamengo, Corinthians and Brazilian National Team shirts, with the same design, for R $ 50; against R $ 100 to R $ 140 for the official shirt.

Less margin, more scale to fight pirates

To combat pirates, Disney also cut prices and released the double DVD of? The Incredibles? for R $ 39,90. Some similar launches come to R $ 54. With an initial circulation of 1,1 million copies, this was the largest DVD release in the country.

? We reduced margins, but did we gain scale? says Eduardo Rosemback, Marketing Director at Walt Disney Company Brasil.

Software distributor Pars, which works with the Autocad program, whose original copy costs $ 5.829, sold the program for $ 1.981 in exchange for the pirated copy.

? We are not going to repeat this discount level, but do we try to obtain different conditions with the manufacturer? concludes the director of Pars, Pedro Antônio da Silva.