Source: Item Comunicação, 28/03/2005

São Paulo, March 28, 2005 - ABES (Brazilian Association of Software Companies), BSA (Business Software Alliance) and other founding entities of the Permanent National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality announce that more than 21 representatives of entities, associations and unions were present at the third meeting of the Forum, which took place on March XNUMX at the Hotel Meliá, in São Paulo.

The event was opened by André de Almeida, coordinator of the Forum, legal advisor to the BSA (Business Software Alliance) and representative of the software industry at CNCP (National Council for Combating Piracy and Intellectual Property Offenses)

Almeida spoke about the importance of civil society participation in the decisions to be taken to the Government as it is the most affected by this type of organized crime. He released numbers of losses and gave an overview of what it was, and how is the fight against piracy in Brazil. ? The proposals defined by the CNCP, now official, had the effective participation of those who suffer most from this type of organized crime, which makes them even more possible to be put into practice. The Forum will be the communication channel between civil society and the Federal Government and we will continue to hold meetings to debate what is being done in favor of companies that lose out on piracy ?, said Almeida.

After Almeida's speech, the president of the CNCP and executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Dr. Luiz Paulo Barreto demonstrated that piracy presents, in this government, a priority problem to be combated.

Then, the representative of the ETCO Institute, Emerson Kapaz gave his opinion on piracy and presented those present at the table :, Márcio Gonçalve, s executive secretary of CNCP, federal deputies Walter Rubinelli and Júlio Semeghini, the representative of the ABPD (Associação Brasileira Record Producers), Paulo Rosa, and Carlos Alberto Camargo of ADEPI (XPTO).

The meeting had the mission to discuss the proposals of the National Plan to Combat Piracy, elaborated by the participants of the Forum and released by the federal government last week.

? The Government is already linked to the Federal Police and entities in the operations and seizures of pirated material. In a single operation, in São Paulo, we seized 400 CDr and 47 DVDr. In 2004, the value of seized material exceeded 400 million reais. One hundred million more than in 2003 ?, presented Márcio Gonçalves, executive secretary of CNCP.

Several sectors were present at the meeting. Among them: Books; Software; phonographic; Fuels, soft drinks, beers; Cigarettes; Cleaning Products and the like; Perfumes; Cosmetics; Toys, Optical Products and Equipment, Industrial Automation; Automotive Parts, Electrical and Electronic Components; Industrial equipment; Electricity Generation, Transmission and Distribution; Computing; Audiovisual (Videos / Films and Rental), Electrical Materials; Telecommunications; Electronics; Household; Lighters, pens, shopping malls, open television, pay-TV, Telecommunications, Information Technology, lighting devices, as well as several workers' unions in these sectors, since the pitaria has caused an amazing reduction of jobs in recent years.

About ABES

The Brazilian Association of Software Companies (www.abes.org.br) is a representative entity of the software sector, which brings together more than 670 companies in Brazil responsible for approximately 85% of the market, operating for 18 years in favor of the sector, both in the legislative and tax areas, as well as with regard to the institution of policies aimed at the growth of the software sector in the country, particularly with regard to the local production of computer programs and research and development in the area of ​​information technology, in addition to working to defend the copyright of computer programs.

About BSA

The Business Software Alliance - BSA - (www.bsa.org) is the leading organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA represents the global software, hardware and Internet sectors to governments and consumers in the international market, and its members form the fastest growing economic sector in the world. The BSA instructs computer users on software copyright and cybersecurity, e-commerce and other Internet-related issues. BSA associates include companies such as Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Bentley Systems, Borland, Cisco Systems, CNC Software / Mastercam, Dell, Entrust, HP, IBM, Intel, Internet Security Systems, Intuit, Macromedia, McAfee, Microsoft , RSA Security, SolidWorks, Sybase, Symantec, UGS and VERITAS Software.