There were 279 known incidents of intellectual property (IP) theft worth R2.4 billion worldwide in the first quarter of 2005 - most of which involved entertainment and software - and the piracy rate is increasing.
This is according to a report by Canada-based Gieschen Consultancy aimed at identifying the scope and depth of counterfeiting and piracy activity, which is based on global counterfeit enforcement activity as reported through the Document, Product and Intellectual Property Security Counterfeit Intelligence Report.
These incidents accounted for roughly a third of global counterfeiting and piracy. The total value of fake items sold and seized was around R6.4 billion from 837 incidents in 67 countries, including SA.
"The problem in SA is not so much counterfeit software, music and DVDs, but the rapid increase in the use of peer-to-peer networks to download illegal content," says Internet attorney Reinhardt Buys.
"In terms of the 2003 survey by the Business Software Alliance, SA was one of the bottom 20 pirating countries. I`m sure we`re now moving closer to the top of the list," Buys says.
The amount of criminal, terrorist and government efforts directed towards counterfeiting trademarks and copyright works has increased steadily each month, says Gieschen Consultancy MD Glen Gieschen.
The latest global survey said: "Copyright infringement for the first quarter totalled R380 million, while counterfeit trademarks reached R2 billion. In addition, more than 80 million fake items were seized which, upon further investigation, led enforcement personnel to the discovery that 800 million items had been sold."
By far the most commonly counterfeited intellectual properties were entertainment and software products - CDs, DVDs, software and games - involving 125 known incidents with a total value of around R360 million.
In terms of outright value, only cigarettes (R604 million) and clothing (R394 million) were ranked higher. There were only eight known incidents of computer equipment and supplies piracy, valued at R1.2 million.
The report also documented the top seizures and losses of counterfeit trademark and pirated copyright works. Of the IT-related companies, Advanced Micro Devices and STMicroelectronics were ranked second on R150 million, with Microsoft eighth at slightly under R20 million.
Share