Thailand cracks down on copyright piracy

Thai authorities said Thursday they had launched a crackdown on copyright piracy with new inspections on all the nation's CD and DVD factories.

Teams began inspecting all of the nation's 38 registered factories producing digital music and video on Wednesday, said the commerce ministry's chief for intellectual property, Puangrat Asavapisit.

"Violations of copyrights on CDs have continued, even though the figure has dropped in recent years," she said. "Authorities will take strong legal action against factories found in violation."

Pirated discs found will be sent to forensics experts to try to identify the original source of production and take legal action, Puangrat said, adding that there would also be stepped-up customs searches at the border.

Violators face fines up to 800,000 baht (about 22,500 dollars) and as much as four years in prison.

In 2005, authorities seized 23,181 fake discs in Thailand, down from 30,347 in 2004.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance in the United States estimates that copyright violations in Thailand cost the industry 278 million dollars in sales in 2005.

Source: The Manager - 9 February 2007

Thailand stuns drug firms with generic licenses

leading by example ????????

I'm still waiting for the day when the gov actually thinks about what they're going to say instead of simply blurting it out for us to enjoy...

Oh here we go, yet more inspirational stuff.

I attended a WIPO seminar yesterday which discussed what they are doing in Asia to combat IP infringements.

To say the speakers didn't have a clue and were totally uninspirational is an under statement and if one message was to come out of the seminar yesterday, it was that the IP collection management companies in Asia are like lost little lambs with no teeth or direction.

Hmmm, I think I must have seen 23,181 fake discs just last night on a short stroll in Pattaya ...

Thais and their crackdowns! They crack me up!

Wonder if they checked Pantip lately???