According to EU customs officials, seizures of pirated goods have jumped 55 percent year-on-year from 2007, from 79 million to 178 million items seized.
DVDs and CDs accounted for a massive 44 percent of all the items seized, jumping 2600 percent from 2007 from 3 million to 78 million units seized.
Says the European Commission, via Variety, that the significant increase is due to improved “cooperation” between the media industry and authorities. The EC also added that overall cases of suspected violation of intellectual property rights rose from 43,000 in 2007 to 49,000.
The report also noted China and greater Asia as the “main source of all counterfeit goods.”
Result for: seizure
Swiss authorities announced today that they had found a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the extremely popular free satellite mapping software.
The discovery was part of an ongoing investigation that has so far led to the arrest of 16 people and the seizure of 1.2 tons of marijuana with a street value of $2.5 million USD. Cash and other valuables were seized as well with a value of over $800,000 USD.
The head of Zurich police’s specialist narcotics unit, Norbert Klossner, said the field was in the northeastern canton (state) of Thurgau. The plantation is about 7500 square meters and was hidden inside a larger field of corn.
“It was an interesting chance discovery,” said Klossner.
The 16 suspects have allegedly sold 7.7 tons of marijuana since 2004, making an average of 6 million Swiss francs a year.
Result for: seizure
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has praised anti-piracy raids targeted counterfeit games in Mexico. Mexico’s law enforcement carried out raids that led to the seizure of about 20 tons of pirate video games. About 40 officers from he region’s Procuraduría General de la República and Agencia Federal de Investigación organisations raided booths and uncovered 91,200 fake games products.
Mexican law enforcement officials operated in conjunction with local ESA representatives to conduct this raid. “Piracy in markets such as San Juan de Dios hurts businesses engaging in the legitimate distribution and retailing of computer and video games,” said Michael D Gallagher, CEO of the ESA.
He continued: “We commend Mexican law enforcement officials for their actions in this raid and are committed to fully supporting authorities around the world who conduct these kinds of enforcement actions.”
