Piracy of Optical Discs Cracked Down in MacaoThe piracy of optical discs in Macao has met with severe crack-down, the local Chinese newspaper of Macao Daily News reported Tuesday.A total of 700,000 pieces of pirated optical discs were destroyed in Macao on Monday. Actually, they were only part of the discs seized in 1998 and 1999. Official figures show that nearly 2.7 million pieces of pirated discs were seized from 1998 to June this year. Other discs will also be destroyed following legal procedures. Macao used to be a manufacturing and distribution center of pirated optical discs beginning from the mid-1990s. In 1997, police authorities detected 15,000 pieces of illegal discs and the number in 1998 increased tenfold. The pirated discs were normally hidden in hollow cloth rolls, waste materials or submarine tanks, or mixed with blank discs. The authorities intensified law-enforcement in 1999, stipulating that illegal disc manufacturers can be sentenced up to four years in prison and pirated disc dealers can be given two years of prison term and heavy fine. In the meantime, the import of optical disc production lines and relevant raw materials has been strictly restricted. In view of the progress in protecting intellectual property rights, Macao was moved in May this year from the "Priority Watch List" to "Watch List" of the United States. |
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