INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY : PENALISATION OF PIRACY AND COUNTERFEITING PROVOKES MISTRUST.

Tech Europe, March, 2007

The Commission has given itself the ambitious objective of establishing minimum penal sanctions for counterfeiting and piracy, in order to better combat them. Is it going too far? The debate between member states, the European Parliament and industry promises to be a stormy affair. And for many, the proposal for a directive, published on 26 April 2006, has little chance of being accepted in its current state.

Nevertheless, counterfeiting and piracy have increased by 1000% between 1998 and 2004. The consequences are an increase in the size of the black market, the loss of tax receipts, and a threat to the health and safety of consumers due to pirated products - often of defective quality, and the development of organised crime financed by this piracy and...

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