COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
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Enforcement
The Customs and Excise Department is responsible for enforcing the criminal sanctions for the protection of copyright and trade marks. It investigates reports of copyright infringement and trade mark counterfeiting, and takes action against the manufacture, distribution, sale, import and export of pirated and counterfeit goods. The department also takes action against the possession of infringing copies of computer programmes, movies, television dramas and music recordings in business as well as unauthorised possession of video recording equipment in a place of public entertainment used primarily as a cinema, theatre or concert hall.
The department maintains stringent control on all optical disc and stamper factories to prevent them from engaging in copyright piracy activities. Optical disc and stamper manufacturers are required to apply for a licence from the Commissioner of Customs and Excise. At year-end, 113 licensed stamper and optical disc factories, 738 optical disc production lines and 21 stamper production units were registered with the department.
During the year, the department processed 10 341 cases and arrested 1 288 persons in connection with copyright piracy activities. The total quantity of items seized amounted to 7.08 million, with a value of $229.46 million. The department also processed 760 cases relating to counterfeit goods and goods bearing false trade descriptions. A total of 743 persons were arrested and 39.46 million pieces of counterfeit goods, valued at $258.4 million, were seized.
During the year, the department detected 23 corporate software end-user piracy cases, resulting in the arrest of 38 persons and the seizure of infringing copies of computer software with a market value of $2 million, as estimated by the copyright owners. It also received one report of unauthorised possession of video recording equipment in a cinema and conducted a criminal investigation into the reported criminal activity.
As an initiative to help young people to keep away from copyright pirates, the Customs and Excise Department and the Social Welfare Department jointly established in April 2002 a referral system under which juvenile offenders apprehended in piracy cases can be given assistance and counselling as circumstances warrant. Since the implementation of the system, a total of eight juvenile offenders. have been referred to the Social Welfare Department for such services.
The Special Task Force of 147 Customs officers continued to take vigorous enforcement action against illicit manufacturing and retailing of optical discs. Its main enforcement objective is to carry out repeated and focused operations at 'black spot' retail outlets and their storage facilities to suppress the sale of pirated optical discs.
As a result of the department's vigorous enforcement action, large-scale illicit optical disc manufacturing activities, for which expensive replicating machines were used, had been successfully stamped out, and no such large-scale activity was detected in 2003. Copyright pirates have turned to smaller scale operations by setting up copying workshops equipped with CD-writers to manufacture pirated discs. During the year, the department neutralised 28 such illegal workshops, with the seizure of 481 CD-writers and the arrest of 57 persons.
The department also takes action against copyright piracy activities on the Internet. Since its establishment in early 2000, the department's Anti-Internet Piracy Team has