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A coordinated effort against piracy
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A coordinated effort against piracy
A coordinated effort against piracy

A coordinated effort against piracy - article in "Epalgematiko Vima" September 1, 2008

 

Initiatives of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce against the phenomenon of Para-trading, which deprives lawful companies of significant income, have produced results.

 

The US Consul General in Thessaloniki, Mr. Hoyt Brian Yee, and the General Manager of the Organization for the Protection of Audio-Visual Works, Mr. Dimitri Valsamides, had a business meeting with the president of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Businessmen, Mr. Michalis Zorpidi, on the topic of para-trading and more specifically on the issue of the According to data presented by EPOE  (the anti-piracy protection arm for the domestic and foreign motion-picture industry), the rate of movie piracy within Greece was at 30%, for video-games 65%, for music CD’s 50% and 65% for software. The economic loss, in Greece, of the piracy on motion-picture movies in 2005 was calculated to 44 million euro (40 m. euro in 2004) for the Audio-Visual companies, where on the other hand the Greek Government lost 15.752 million euro due to VAT and tax profit (13.920 m. euro). The losses on a worldwide level in 2005 were 5.4 billion dollars (without calculating the loss from piracy due to internet) from 3.5 billion dollars in 2004.
Mr. Yee requested the co-operation of the Chamber in the fight against the phenomenon of piracy.The president of the Chamber stressed to Mr. Yee that the para-trade, through which pirated digital disks and all counterfeit goods are distributed, constitutes a serious bleeding in the market, creating conditions of unfair competition.

Mr. Zorpidis stressed that “the State agencies responsible for the elimination of para-trade must fulfill their task with consistency for the benefit of business. The Chamber has intervened and has applied pressure in every direction. It’s time that everyone takes charge of their responsibilities for the stamping out of a phenomenon that hurts the international image of the Country” ’ Mr. Zorpidis stressed.

 

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