Source: Terra Newsroom, 20/02/2008

More than 60% of consumers buy pirated products frequently in the city of São Paulo, as announced on Wednesday by the Federation of Commerce of the State of São Paulo (Fecomercio). Among the most commercialized 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 ,XNUMX%).

The survey also states that Paulistanos are diversifying their purchases and taking home more counterfeit items. 900 consumers were interviewed in the metropolitan region of São Paulo.

According to the survey, 74,9% of consumers know the Nota Fiscal Paulista program, instituted since October 2007, by the government of the State of São Paulo, which aims at several benefits for merchants and consumers, including strengthening the fight against piracy. Even though they know the program, 56,5% do not require its issuance at the time of purchase, against 43,5%.

Lower prices were the main reason cited by 84% of respondents for purchasing pirated products, while 15,3% said they prefer illegal trade on account of convenience, such as easy access to purchase them.

When asked about the value of a pirated product, 80% think the price is less than half of an original product and 15,3% think it is half the original value.

According to 60% of consumers, counterfeit products are purchased from street vendors and street vendors, while 40% buy directly from informal shopping centers.

The survey also shows that, although the consumption of illegal products is large, 28,9% of consumers are aware that piracy harms merchants, while 26,1% say that the government is the most affected.

“Competition is unfair and directly harms businessmen and workers in each sector that competes with piracy. The entity (Fecomercio) believes that it can pressure the government to focus efforts on combating the demand for pirated products, stressing the damage that is caused to the economy as a whole and, mainly, to the pocket