In Brazil, from Drugs to Software, All Is Pirated

Brazil’s representatives of the commercial sector, the Receita Federal (IRS) and members of Congress are meeting in Rio de Janeiro to discuss their losses due to piracy in the areas of profits, taxes and jobs, besides consumer relations.

According to the Commercial Association of Rio, Brazil is near the top of the list of countries with high levels of piracy.


Pirated goods run the gamut from designer bags and clothes to perfumes and tennis shoes; from computer programs to watches to medicines to cigarettes to CDs and DVDs, not to mention bateries and sunglasses.


A congressional investigation (CPI) found that Brazil loses some US$ 5.2 billion (15 billion reais) annually in tax revenue because of falsified products.


As a result of the investigation five bills are in Congress dealing with the issue. And a National Council on Intellectual Property and Piracy Combat was established.


According to the Rio Commercial Association, high taxes burden commercial activities and are largely responsible for the growth of piracy, contraband goods and tax evasion in Brazil.


Awareness


For a three-month period, which has just ended, some 1,800 movie theatres around Brazil have shown a series of shorts, each about 45 seconds long, on the damage done by piracy.


The film shorts compared piracy to robbery and attempted to make people aware of the problems created when they buy counterfeit films or make unauthorized downloads.


There are 120,000 jobs in the Brazilian audiovisual sector which pays some US$ 64.4 million (200 million reais) in taxes annually.


However, it is estimated that losses due to piracy reach almost double that – around US$ 119.5 million (370 million reais), not to mention the loss of 17,000 jobs.


Out of every three CDs or DVDs sold in Brazil last year, one was pirate.


A congressional investigation (CPI) discovered that piracy in Brazil is a big business run by organized crime, literally.


“We have to make people aware of the fact that piracy causes unemployment, fraud and tax evasion, besides strengthening organized crime,” says deputy Luiz Antonio de Medeiros, who was the chairman of the CPI.


Agência Brasil
Translator: Allen Bennett

Tags:

You May Also Like

Twice Now Polls Have Shown Rousseff Ahead of Serra in Brazil’s Presidential Election

Brazil’s former chief of staff Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party presidential candidate, has ...

100 Days of Lula and No Cardoso

Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso treated the audience, which had paid a lot of ...

Sugar, Beef and Cachaça Are the Staples of Brazilian Trader Blooming

The trading company Blooming International, from São Paulo, in the southeast of Brazil, plans ...

Brazil’s Oil Company Petrobras Slightly Reduces Output

Brazil's state-controlled gas and oil multinational Petrobras announced on Friday, December 19, that the ...

World Economic Forum Holds Meeting on LatAm in Brazil

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is going to hold for the first time a ...

The day after

Thanks to the wonderful potions prepared by Loira, Loira and Roque postponed old age ...

Brazil Scolds Mexico for Visa Requirement and Threatens to Bar Country from Mercosur

The Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, commented today in New York about ...

Air Traffic Grows 13% in Brazil

Air traffic continues its expansion in Brazil. According to data released by the National ...

LETTERS

Brazil has become the world’s largest corridor for cocaine. Sixty percent of the cocaine ...

Jobs in Brazil Grow for Fifth Month in a Row

The level of employment in Brazilian industry grew 1% in September, compared with August. ...