EU pushes new piracy plan
Rules to make law clearer, extend scope
The rules would make the law clearer, extend its scope to new intellectual property rights and provide a more effective legal weapon against fraud.
They also would allow customs officers to investigate suspected counterfeit material without making a prior application for action and make it easier for companies to ask officials to seize and destroy suspected fraudulent material without lengthy legal proceedings.
Anti-piracy orgs applauded the news. "This revised regulation will enable customs to detain and destroy more pirate CDs," Frances Moore, European regional director at recording industry body the Intl. Federation of the Phonographic Industry, told Daily Variety.
In 2001 almost 100 million fake items, worth an estimated S2 billion ($2.14 billion), were intercepted at the EU's borders.
Problem is likely to increase when the EU admits new members from Eastern Europe in 2004, as it will open channels for counterfeit goods from the East.
