Ana Wambier and Mirelle de França, O Globo - 21/01/2005

In the National Week to Combat Piracy, more than one million pirated CDs (audio, DVD and software) were destroyed yesterday on the lawn of Maracanã stadium. The volume, which reached 21 tons, is the result of seizures in the State of Rio since 2001. According to the Protective Association of Intellectual Phonographic Rights (APDIF), Rio ranks third among the states where there are more counterfeits: last year they were collected 594 thousand units. Across the country, there were 17,5 million. São Paulo, with 12 million seized CDs, is the first on the list.

? Music piracy already represents 52% of the market for CDs sold. When it started in 1997, the percentage was 3%. For record companies, is the annual loss from R $ 600 million to R $ 700 million? said the director general of the Brazilian Association of Record Producers (ABPD), Paulo Rosa.

Of the total destroyed yesterday in Maracanã, one hundred thousand units were software. According to the director of the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (Abes), Vinicius Carneiro, 61% of the products sold in the country are pirates:

? The software sector loses R $ 6 billion in revenue per year.

The destruction of CDs was assisted by representatives of the Federal (PF) and Rodoviária Federal (PRF) and Interpol police, which this year should train Brazilian police to crack down on piracy. According to the director general of the PRF, Hà © lio Cardoso Derenne, the policeâ € ™ s activities should focus on borders:

? One of the main entries for pirated CDs is Foz do Iguaçu, where we maintain the Catarata operation together with PF and PM do Paraná. We reduced the entry of products by up to 50%.