ENG-2007 — Page 163

Commerce and Industry 119

The following is an account of the department's enforcement actions in 2007:

Copyright cases

Cases effected

Persons arrested

Seizure value

9 200

1 225

$117 million

Trade descriptions cases

970

763

$175 million

The department maintains stringent licensing control on all optical disc and stamper factories to prevent them from engaging in copyright piracy activities.

The department takes sustained enforcement actions against business end-user piracy cases. The enforcement result since the introduction of the end-user liabilities in 2001 is as follows:

Corporate software piracy

97

Use of infringing music videos in karaoke

49

118

$2.59 million

Cases effected

Persons arrested

Seizure value

210

$4.93 million

The department carries out repeated and focused raids on retail outlet black spots and tracked down their storage and manufacturing facilities for illicit optical discs. As a result of the department's sustained and vigorous enforcement actions, large-scale production of illicit optical discs has been driven out of Hong Kong. The piracy activities are now confined to low-level sales activities and replication of a limited sale.

In May 2007, the Court of Final Appeal upheld the ruling of the lower courts in the first-ever successful enforcement action against illegal peer-to-peer activities on the Internet in 2005, and such infringement activities have been substantially reduced. The department has established two dedicated teams for fighting internet piracy. The teams have achieved the following since their inception:

Copyright cases

Cases effected

Persons arrested

Seizure value

58

92

$3.6 million

Trade descriptions cases

39

47

$2.3 million

The department also carries out raids on known black spots for selling of counterfeit goods, which resulted in a significant reduction in such illegal activities. In order to evade customs detection, the counterfeiters have to operate for short periods at irregular hours. Some of them only display photographs/catalogues of counterfeit goods to potential customers who are then taken to hidden showrooms. In 2007, the department cracked down on 85 such showrooms.