Source: O Globo, 6/6/2011

By FERNANDO RAMAZZINI

Common sense points out that pirates, since the beginning of history, have been thieves. Exclude the romanticism associated with the figures of some buccaneers and what remains are individuals who looted, plundered, stole the property of others. They preferred small boats, the fastest, to thus enrich illicitly.

The practice of dishonesty has crossed the times and permeates today, no longer linked to the men of the sea. It is associated with corrupt politicians, unscrupulous people from the most varied sectors, smugglers, street vendors and their counterfeit products.

But it is necessary to understand that it is also dishonest for anyone to cooperate with a fraudulent system. It is also dishonest to buy a product known to be pirated. Consumers who purchase fake products must be aware that it helps to finance organized crime, contributes to stop generating jobs and helps to reduce government investments because of taxes that are not collected.

Dishonesty is the abandonment of a permanent advantage for a temporary advantage, as the XNUMXth century American lawyer and author Christian Nevell Bovee brilliantly summarizes. In addition to frustrating the consumer in terms of quality, durability and efficiency, the piracy of certain products, such as medicines, sunglasses, cigarettes and beverages, can represent serious damage to the consumer's health.

Clearly, a counterfeiter is not interested in producing merchandise with the same quality as the original. Whether using components that do not undergo any health surveillance, making use of unsatisfactory manufacturing processes or applying improper storage, the result always brings an associated harm.

Cheap, expensive, contraband, pirated product: the black market still handles considerable sums that pass by society. Estimates indicate that Brazil lost US $ 20 billion to piracy last year, in taxes not collected and losses for companies. The problem is for all of us who accept being deceived by items of dubious quality and who make us accomplices in dishonesty.

And for us Brazilians, who tend to think that the problem is always that of others, that it is always the others who harm, that only politicians transgress, it is necessary to know that those who agree with dishonesty are dishonest. When buying that fashion movie DVD for R $ 5, or a pack of cigarettes for R $ 1, don't just think about the supposed savings you make. Also remember the jobs you are failing to generate, the violence you contribute, the public improvements you fail to finance. Yes, the problem and the responsibility are also ours!

FERNANDO RAMAZZINI is director of the Brazilian Association to Combat Counterfeiting.