First arbitration chamber specialized in internet and technology issues launched

Brazil already has an independent Arbitration Chamber for resolving disputes and conflicts involving the Internet, Technology and E-commerce. Established since 2013, CIAMTEC - International Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation in Information Technology, E-commerce and Communication recently started its activities, acting as an Arbitration Court composed of specialists in Law and Law applicable to information technology, who can decide controversies and legal issues, as long as appointed by the parties, as provided by the Arbitration Law.

Among the subjects covered by CIAMTEC are from virtual money, fraud and electronic scams to unfair competition, bids in information technology and IT projects. In addition to the resolution of any disputes and problems that may possibly exist between the parties, the Chamber may also act in the mediation of conflicts, providing all parties with prompt service to their needs.

Responsible for arbitration in the state of Goiás and second secretary of CIAMTEC, Rafael Maciel highlights the benefits of the Arbitral Tribunal, when he says that “Arbitration is governed in Brazil by Law 9.307 / 1996, but few are aware of the benefits of the election of an arbitrator of a Chamber of Arbitration, and instead of using the common Judgment, such as economy, speed and flexibility, among many other advantages. The dispute is resolved quickly. When the issue involves technology, there is also the guarantee of having arbitrators with experience in the matter, avoiding legal insecurity and erroneous decisions ”. Maciel also states that the Chamber also has experts who support the arbitrators in the analysis of the cases presented.

Source: Gazeta do Povo

Software piracy fell 8% in five years in the country

Source: Paraná Online - Curitiba / PR - 08/10/2010

The data is from the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (Abes), whose representatives participated yesterday in Curitiba, in an event to combat piracy held at the headquarters of the Public Ministry of Paraná (MP-PR), at the initiative of the National Council of Justice (CNJ).

Thanks to educational and repressive actions, software piracy in Brazil has dropped 8% in the last five years. However, the data is still alarming. Last year alone, the country accumulated losses in the order of US $ 2,9 billion due to the violation of intellectual property rights in the area of ​​information technology.

In Paraná, the loss was about R $ 244 million. The state has the fifth largest loss in the country, second only to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul.

“Just to give you an idea, if software piracy fell another 10% in Brazil, the benefits would be the generation of 3,7 thousand direct and indirect jobs, the information technology industry would generate an additional R $ 422 million and the country would raise another R $ 96 million in taxes, ”says the coordinator of the Abes intellectual priority defense group, Antônio Eduardo Mendes da Silva.

According to him, most people, when purchasing pirated products, believe they are taking advantage. However, they do not imagine the evils that the attitude causes to the national economy and to themselves.

“When someone uses pirated software, they run the risk of exposing themselves to viruses and having their computer invaded by malicious programs that can allow other people to access your personal data. When buying a computer, it is important to know if the software is including and appearing on the invoice, which reduces the risk of taking a pirated product home ”.

Training

Also at the event held at the MP-PR, public agents received training to identify pirated products and guidance on how they should act during the execution of major combat actions.

“It is not always easy to identify pirated products. Often, they are done so well that agents feel insecure at the time of identification. Counterfeiting affects a number of products, including medicines, putting the population's health at risk, ”says Ana Lúcia Moraes, executive secretary of the National Council to Combat Piracy.

 

Piracy in Brazil already moves US $ 520 billion annually

Source: Jornal União - Londrina / PR - 08/10/2010

Piracy generates approximately US $ 520 billion annually in Brazil, against US $ 360 billion, which is handled, on average, by drug trafficking. Piracy also finances a series of other serious crimes, such as money laundering, arms trafficking and drug trafficking itself, in addition to preventing foreign investments, affecting the labor market, causing significant losses to national industry and compromising tax collection. tax. In view of this situation, the National Council to Combat Piracy and Crimes against Intellectual Property (CNCP), an organ linked to the Ministry of Justice that brings together representatives of the Public Power and civil society, launched yesterday (7), in the auditorium of the Ministry's headquarters Público do Paraná, in Curitiba, the strategic project “Cidade Livre da Pirataria”. The initiative includes a pioneer in Curitiba and should soon be implemented in Brasília and also in São Paulo, joining efforts by the Union, the State and the Municipality itself, with incentives for the creation of local mechanisms for the prevention and repression of illicit activity.

A training seminar, throughout Thursday, was the first practical movement of the project, aimed at members of the civil and military police, health and urban professionals from the State and the Municipality, members and public prosecutors. , among other segments. The executive secretary of the National Council for Combating Piracy (CNCP), Ana Lúcia de Moraes Gomes, opened the seminar to present an overview of the fight against piracy in Brazil. According to her, criminal practices in this area have become extraordinarily sophisticated, and if before they were limited to products such as CDs and DVDs, for example, today virtually everything that can generate profits is subject to piracy: medicines, condoms, surgical materials and prostheses, pieces of automobiles and aircraft, cleaning and hygiene products, clothing, food. Faced with this complex situation, aggravated by the country's continental dimension, which has a dry border with ten other countries, it defends coordinated actions around three aspects: the repressive, directed against the supply of products; educational, aimed at developing campaigns that show the harm of illicit practice to the population; and economical, in the sense of making original products cheaper and more accessible to the consumer. “It is essential to awaken the population to conscious and responsible consumption; awaken reflection on the advantages of opting for an authentic product, manufactured and marketed legally ”, he highlighted.

Antônio Borges, from the Antipiracy Association of Cinema and Music (APCM) participated in the seminar talking about the piracy of musical and audiovisual works, a sector in which crime moves approximately R $ 40 billion a year. According to him, in the area of ​​films, in Brazil, piracy dominates 59% of the market, that is, of every 100 DVDs sold, about 60 are counterfeit, generating losses of the order of US $ 198 million. The picture is even more serious when it comes to music, since piracy accounts for no less than 65% of the market. "The situation is even more compromised if we consider the big and very current problem of cyber piracy," he added.

Representative of the intelligence sector of the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), Lorilei de Fátima Wzorek made a detailed presentation on the problem of counterfeit drug brands, presenting ANVISA's experience in combating counterfeiting of products subject to health surveillance - medicines, prostheses, food, cosmetics, among others. According to her, there has been a very considerable migration of drug trafficking to the area of ​​counterfeit drugs, and figures raised by Interpol in 2009 leave no doubt as to the reason for the criminals' choices: one kilo of heroin is equivalent in the market , to $ 3, while a kilo of counterfeit Viagra is equivalent to $ 75. The drugs aimed at treating erectile dysfunction, by the way, are among the most counterfeited today, alongside anabolic steroids and weight-loss drugs. According to Lorilei, they are sold in the formal market, in pharmacies and drugstores, and also in the informal market, by street vendors, in gyms, open markets and on the internet. In order to have a dimension of the problem, in terms of scale, the ANVISA expert recalls that in 2007 there were 620 seizures of counterfeit and smuggled drugs. In 2010, from January to September, the seizures were 53.575, a number slightly higher than that corresponding to the entire year of 2009 (when there were 53.535 seizures).

Agreement between the MP and the Pharmacy Council

During the seminar, an agreement was signed between the Public Ministry of Paraná, represented by the Attorney General of Justice, Olympio de Sá Sotto Maior Neto, and by the Regional Pharmacy Council, chaired by Marisol Dominguez Muro. The commitment aims to provide the Public Prosecutor's Office with technical and scientific advice on activities that require the assumption of technical responsibility, to instruct legal proceedings or administrative procedures involving the Public Prosecutor. On the other hand, the agreement must provide the Pharmacy Council with support from the members of the MP-PR, notably in the inspection actions aimed at investigating, in particular, the violation of rights related to the consumer or health - as in the case of the sale of counterfeit drugs and smuggled, for example.

(Luiz Alberto Pena / Asimp / MP-PR)