Source: DCI, 24/09/2007

BRASÍLIA - Piracy in Brazil of products such as CDs, DVDs, software and others, such as medicines, shoes, clothes and household appliances, costs public coffers a year about R $ 30 billion in taxes alone, according to data released by the Council National Anti-Piracy and Offenses against Intellectual Property - body created with the purpose of supervising the informal market activity of producing and selling articles without licensing.

According to the council, the piracy figures in the country "are alarming". For every ten legitimate CDs sold, another five are pirated (bought directly with street vendors) and, many others, copied over the Internet. The data also shows that buying pirated products has already become a habit of Brazilians: about 42% of the population some kind of these products every year.

In the labor sector, it is estimated by the council that for each informal job created (such as a new street vendor stall), six formal jobs are lost and that around 2 million jobs are closed (or stop being opened) per year because of the piracy.

Brazil is also among the top ten countries with the highest incidence of music piracy according to a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). According to data from the federation, between 2003 and 2005, 40% of CDs containing music were pirated in the country.

On the other hand, the report also indicates that piracy in general in Brazil fell 12% between 2003 to the beginning of 2006.

In 2003, a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) was created in the Chamber of Deputies, which produced a 342-page report on the subject and proposed projects determining the creation of new formulas and measurements for inspection for various products, including counterfeit drinks. and cigarettes. During the commission's work, Korean smuggler Lan Kin Chong, head of a powerful piracy structure for products sold in Brazil, from São Paulo was arrested.

(with Agência Senado)