Gazeta Mercantil / Caderno A-8 (Agência Brasil) - 21/01/2005

Rio, January 21, 2005 - The head of Interpol's Intellectual Property Crimes Unit, John Newton, praised the Brazilian government's work against piracy. According to him, the country is consolidating itself as a leader in this segment and "Interpol wants to continue maintaining a dialogue with the government to expand the fight against crime". He participated, yesterday, in the destruction of a million pirated CDs in Rio. The coordinator of the Piracy subcommittee of the Chamber of Deputies, Júlio Lopes, said that “the important thing about the event is the presence of Interpol's worldwide anti-piracy leadership, witnessing the progress that Brazil has achieved and collaborating to continue a permanent policy to combat piracy ”.

For the deputy, Brazil "has shown the world that when society wants, things definitely happen in the country". He pointed out that the mobilization is an example for the world, not only with the seizure of millions of CDs, but also of cigarettes, medicines and drinks. According to Lopes, piracy causes an annual loss of US $ 10 billion to the national economy and blocks the supply of two million jobs. In 2004, the Association for the Protection of Intellectual Phonographic Rights (Apdif) registered the seizure of 17,5 million pirated CDs in the country. The Association for the Defense of Intellectual Property (Adepi), which takes care of the cinematographic area, collected around 20 tons illegal material.