Source: UOL Economy, 20/02/2008

SÃO PAULO - São Paulo residents spend between R $ 10 and R $ 30 monthly on the purchase of pirated products. According to a survey conducted by Fecomercio-SP (Federation of Commerce of the State of São Paulo), more than 60% of consumers in the capital ignore the law and buy products that are not legalized frequently in São Paulo.

The lowest prices are cited by 84% of consumers as the main reason for buying. When asked about the value of a pirated product, 80% think the value corresponds to less than half the price of an original product and 15,3% think it corresponds to half the original price

Among the products most commercialized in the illegal market are CDs (games, music and software) which correspond to 61,5% of purchases, followed by electronic devices (13%), sound and image devices (7,7%) and DVDs (7,1%).

Losses

The survey also revealed that the purchase of illegal products is made even by those familiar with the tax incentive program, which created the Nota Fiscal Paulista last year. Among those interviewed, 56,5% of consumers, even though they know them, do not require the issuance of the Note at the time of purchase.

Still according to the survey, 28,9% of these consumers said they were aware that piracy harms merchants, while 26,1% said that the Government is the most affected by illegal trade.

According to the National Council for Combating Piracy (CNPC), trade in products implies the loss of 2 million formal employees. There are about 2 million new consumers who could potentially consume more products from the trade and heat up the economy.