Annual losses from pirated copies in the Russia make about $3 billion
By Ludmila Goroshko
Date: November 18, 2003
"The crimes related to pirated copying causes huge financial losses for intellectual proprietor and the state budget of Russia. Therefore, the solving of this problem requires more rigid approaches", the president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Eugeny Primakov said at the international conference "The Pirated Copies: Problems and Solutions". Participants of the conference believe that the situation developed in connection with mass distribution of counterfeit and forged goods deserves the close attention on the part of the government.
According to experts, annual budgetary losses in the Russian Federation make about $3 billion. The result is the forming shadow sector of economy, the undermining domestic and foreign businessmen's authority, the losses of consumers. The highest level of criminalization of pirated copies' turnover is detected in large industrial cities.
"The European Union considers an opportunity of prosecution of manufacturers of the counterfeit goods, including high penalties and imprisonment" - Eugeny Primakov said. Now, the Russian government is going to enter to WTO, which acting within the framework of the cooperation agreement on fighting pirated copies. The pendency of problems of protecting intellectual property results in delay of integration of Russia into world economy.
Thus, according to the experts, the share of pirated videocassettes made 83 % in 2002, audiocassettes - 76 %, DVD - 80 %, CD - 86 %. Russian law enforcements confiscated counterfeit audio and a video copies for 30 million roubles in 2003.
Computer Crime Research Center
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