Tag: Piracy

Counterfeiting network grows in the country

Auto parts, clothing, drinks, wheat flour and powdered milk. These are some of the items that, according to the Brazilian Association to Combat Counterfeiting - ABCF, are part of the list of counterfeit products in Brazil.

According to a report published in the newspaper Bom Dia Brasil, the counterfeiting network has been increasing annually, generating a loss of R $ 100 billion for the country. With a larger consumer market, São Paulo is one of the states most affected by counterfeiting, followed by Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia.

Rodolpho Ramazzini, from ABCF, points out that there are many causes that contributed to this growth, among them the technological sophistication carried out by counterfeiters in preparing products that were previously difficult to make, in addition to the increase in transnational trade.

The report also featured testimonials from several consumers who experienced embarrassment and disappointment after purchasing counterfeit products, in addition to showing some tips on how to identify differences between the pirated version and the original.

Click here to check the full article

Source: TV Globo (Good morning Brazil)
Collaboration: Pernord

 

Video contest educates students about piracy

Finished with an exciting award ceremony, held on the 8th, the 5th edition of the Video Legal Contest was attended by 520 students from the cities of São Paulo (SP) and Brasília (DF). The initiative, which is sponsored by the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition - ETCO, aims to educate elementary school students about the damage caused by piracy.

In the city of São Paulo, 120 students from the municipal network gathered in groups to create videos on the topic. In the Federal Capital, the number of applicants was surprising: 400 pre-adolescent students from the Inter-school Language Centers (Cils), a complementary education network in Brasília, participated in the contest.

In São Paulo, of the ten piracy videos produced by students and selected for the final stage, six were awarded. The trophies and prizes were delivered at Amcham's headquarters, the American Chamber of Commerce, in the south of the city. Teachers, pedagogical coordinators, students and representatives of sponsoring institutions were present.

For Heloisa Ribeiro, executive director of ETCO, the messages that the students transmitted with the content of the videos were important for the personal training of each one. They also serve as an example to family and friends, encouraging the fight against piracy and increasing awareness of the problem.

The consul general of the United States in São Paulo, Dennis Hankins, stressed that the objective of the contest was to show students that producing an intellectual work requires effort, and that authors have the right to be rewarded for their work.

In addition to ETCO, the initiative was sponsored by the United States Consulate General, Eli Lilly, Microsoft, HP, Walt Disney Company, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista and the São Paulo Municipal Department of Education.

The winning students in each category won the right to visit the Microsoft Technology Center in São Paulo, along with the winners of the Brasília stage. In Capital Federal, the winning work was Beware, pirate glasses, from Cil 1. In São Paulo, the six winning works were:

Category 1 (10 to 12 years)

1. Municipal Elementary School (EMEF) Professor Máximo de Moura - Piracy? Copyright? What is it?

2. EMEF Doctor José Dias da Silveira - Jornal Zé Dias

3. EMEF Professor Primo Páscole Melaré - Nature asks for passage

Category 2 (12 to 14 years)

1. EMEF Professor Sylvia Martin Pires - A Pirated Addiction

2. EMEF May 8 - The old piracy

3. EMEF Zilka Salaberry de Carvalho - Zilka news on modern piracy

Source: Amcham of Brazil

Illegal software downloads

In the first half of 2014, the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES), removed more than 28 thousand items from the air between advertisements on auction sites, websites and links that gave access to illegal software downloads. The Internet Monitoring action, which has been going on for over ten years, tracks the irregular offers of computer programs owned by the entity's associates.

According to the entity's monitoring results, the removing links was the best performing stock. In the first six months of the year, 18.297 links were recorded, an increase of 39,13%, compared to last year, with emphasis on the month of April, which recorded the highest volume excluded, more than 4.200 excluded links.

Considering only auction sites, the entity eliminated 9.160 ads in the first six months of the year, a jump of 30,9% in relation to the total eliminated in the same period in 2013. Also in that period, 32 websites were removed from the air, for violating the intellectual property right when offering pirated software.

Anyone who wants to cooperate with investigative efforts by law enforcement authorities to identify outbreaks of piracy can do so via the portal Report Software Piracy. Complaints are anonymous and can also be made through the “Denounce Piracy” application, available on IOS and Android platforms.

For more information, click here

Source: Uol 

Seizures totaled US $ 62 million in the first half of the year

The seizures of goods and vehicles carried out in the first six months of 2014 by the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil in Foz do Iguaçu totaled US $ 62,1 million (approximately R $ 138 million), an amount that is 22% higher than that recorded in the first semester of the previous year. Most of the seizures were carried out within the scope of the Armored Frontier operation, which was developed on a permanent basis by the Federal Revenue units.

Cigarettes, electronics and vehicles together accounted for more than 80% of the total seizures recorded in the first half. Compared to the same period of the previous year, vehicles had a reduction in seizures of around 30%, electronics had a reduction of 40% and cigarettes had an increase of 442% in the period.

From January to June 2014, 335 operations to repress customs illicit acts were carried out by the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil in Foz do Iguaçu, in practically all municipalities located in the area where it operates. Much of this work was carried out jointly with partner agencies that work to combat the crimes of contracting and embezzlement and drug and arms trafficking.

Below is a detailed table containing the values ​​of seizures made in the first half of 2014 and the percentage evolution in relation to the same period in 2013:

SURVEY RESULT

(Seizures of Goods)

 Type of Goods

Amounts in US $

% Share in 2014 total

Evolution%
compared to 2013

Total 1st sem. 2013

Total 1st sem. 2014
Beverages

220.351,00

179.015,00

0,29%

-19%
Toys

918.520,00

718.690,00

1,16%

-22%
Cigars

5.729.348,00

31.047.022,00

50,00%

442%
Electronics

12.070.776,00

7.229.050,00

11,64%

-40%
Computer Technology

3.866.411,00

2.735.398,00

4,40%

-29%
Pharmaceutical products

686.579,00

423.988,00

0,68%

-38%
Recorded Optical Media

110.094,00

237.924,00

0,38%

116%
Virgin Optical Media

156.953,00

134.202,00

0,22%

-14%
Perfumes

1.161.336,00

1.091.901,00

1,76%

-6%
Watches

1.435.201,00

929.403,00

1,50%

-35%
CLOTHING

1.923.823,00

1.438.246,00

2,32%

-25%
Other Goods

6.658.786,00

4.793.697,00

7,72%

-28%
Vehicles

15.901.922,00

11.133.331,00

17,93%

-30%

TOTAL

50.840.100,00

62.091.867,00

100,00%

22%
In addition to goods and vehicles, the following quantities of drugs, weapons and ammunition were seized in the first half of 2014:

 

Drugs / Weapons / Ammunition

Un. Measure

Qty
Perfume Launcher

jar

70
Marijuana

kg

1.128,33
Cocaine

kg

9,82
Hashish

kg

24,43
Crack

kg

21,48
Ecstasy

un

400
Ammunition

un

1.040
Weapons

un

13
Source: FNCP - National Forum Against Piracy and Illegality

Pharmacy owners are convicted of federal program fraud

Justice condemned the owners of a pharmacy in Marília (SP) for defrauding a federal program that subsidizes medicines sold to the population at lower prices. Losses to public coffers amount to R $ 38,4 thousand.

An inspection carried out by the SUS National Audit System to verify the program's execution in the last months of 2009 found that sales were being made in disagreement with the rules. Among the irregularities are falsification of signatures and commercialization of medicines without a prescription.

The owners of the pharmacy were sentenced to two years in prison, but the sentence was converted into service to the community, in addition to a fine of ten minimum wages, in the amount in effect at the time of the facts. They will also have to return the wrongly received money to the federal government.

How it works

The federal program establishes the sale of cheaper drugs to the population in private pharmacies. Consumers pay only a portion of the price and the rest is paid by the government in transfers to partner establishments, according to the prices in a single table.

In order to receive the amounts, merchants must follow a series of requirements, including the collection of signature and personal data from customers in tax coupons and the maintenance of correct information about the drugstore in the Ministry of Health's register.

Source: G1

 

 

Unpublished campaign warns of the dangers of smuggling

The cheapest is not always the best choice. Even more when the option is for smuggled, pirated or counterfeit products.

The Brazilian Association to Combat Counterfeiting (ABCF), in partnership with the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (ETCO), launched this Wednesday, July 23, the campaign "Promotion Achou, Perdeu!"

The campaign's proposal is to draw the attention of consumers and society to the risks that products from contraband bring to safety and health. The tone of the communication follows the line of the great sales of popular stores, but with a focus on unknown components and the dangers generated by pirated software, illegal cigarettes from Paraguay and toys without Inmetro certification.

“We want to involve society and encourage a change in consumer behavior, showing that often what appears to be an advantage, in fact, only brings problems and harms to health and increased crime in the state”, explains Rodolpho Ramazzini, director of the Association Brazilian Fight Against Counterfeiting (ABCF).

"As well as the health and safety risks were not enough, the increase in smuggling also significantly affects the state's revenue", concludes Ramazzini.

Research

Aimed at classes B and C, which are among the largest consumers of smuggled, pirated or counterfeit products, the campaign “Promotion Found, Lost!” was based on various statistics and research by Ibope, which helped to identify the points that hurt and sensitize the consumer the most.

Campaign reach

The campaign will run in the metropolitan region of Curitiba between the months of July and October and will be on several billboards, bus shelters, on TV channels, radio and newspapers.

After this period, the entities will analyze the results - such as the drop in the consumption of smuggled and counterfeit products - to evaluate the possibility of expanding the circulation to other states and cities affected by this problem.

Fight against smuggling

The Brazilian Association to Combat Counterfeiting (ABCF), with the support of ETCO, launched, in July, in Curitiba, the campaign “Promotion Achou, Perdeu!” The initiative draws the consumer's attention to the risks of smuggled products to safety and health. A series of advertising pieces will run on billboards, bus stops and communication vehicles in Curitiba until October. The city was chosen to host the campaign for the importance of Paraná in combating smuggling via a triple frontier.

Escola Legal holds forum to educate educators

The month of September marked the 2012th Forum of Educators Awareness in Combating Piracy, as part of the activities of the Escola Legal Project in 150. To meet the great interest of educators in participating, the Forum was divided into three stages, held in different dates and with more than XNUMX participants in total.

Held on September 1, the first stage of the VI Educators Awareness Forum on Combating Piracy had as its theme “Copyright and Intellectual Property X Piracy”. The subject, of great relevance, was chosen to start the event, which is part of the 2012 activities of the project and which aims to offer content and information to educators from public and private education networks, with a view to raising awareness in society, through the school community, about the evils of piracy.

The event featured a lecture by Frank Caramuru, director of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) in Brazil, who spoke about the danger of pirated products and the damage they cause to society, the government and companies. Then, Sirlei Côrtes, representative of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), gave his testimony on the impact of piracy for the film sector. In addition, the documentary “Cidade Livre de Pirataria” was produced, produced in partnership with the São Paulo City Hall, through the Urban Security Secretariat, on how the city is acting to combat this crime. The first stage of the event also featured an Educators Workshop.

The 2nd Stage of the Forum, on September 15, had the theme "Health and Medicines X Piracy", discussed in speeches and testimonies from companies and entities in the area.

ETW representative Karen Watanabe addressed the harm of piracy to society and presented data and statistics for some sectors most affected by counterfeiting and smuggling. The product protection specialist at Eli Lilly do Brasil, Mônica Hattori, who also represented Interfarma (Association of Pharmaceutical and Research Industries), spoke about the risks of drug piracy to the health of patients, in addition to showing the mechanisms of prevention and differentiation between original and counterfeit medicines, helping educators to clarify a series of doubts.

The third panel, given by Pfizer's Corporate Security manager, Alberto Santos, complemented Mônica's lecture by emphasizing the connection of criminal gangs with drug piracy and the issue of high profits obtained by criminals who counterfeit drugs.

To close the cycle, the third stage was held on September 29. In discussion, the theme “Sustainability and Environment X Piracy”. Marcio Furrier, Business Development Manager at HP, presented sustainable actions by the company, such as recycling and reusing printing supplies, and the importance of these actions to prevent or avoid impact on the environment. Furrier also explained which security items should be evaluated at the time of purchase and how to differentiate an original HP packaging from a counterfeit.

Then, there was a lecture by the Project Manager of the Department of Urban Environment of the Ministry of the Environment, Mr. Ronaldo Hipólito Soares, who spoke about the National Solid Waste Plan.

More information about the Legal School Project and the VI Educators Awareness Forum on Combating Piracy are available at http://www.projetoescolalegal.org.br/