Seizures and discoveries include a seizure in Malaysia of over 700,000 fake DVDs. The movies, primarily knock-offs of Hollywood blockbusters, are thought to be worth up to RM7 million... In Pakistan, authorities seized over 90,000 counterfeit pills as part of a crackdown on spurious pharmaceuticals. It is thought that these goods were locally manufactured... Customs officers in Northern Ireland have seized more than 8 million fake cigarettes in a shipping container that is thought to have originated in China. Two policemen were injured during the bust.

Cases and outcomes include the launch of a new initiative in the US aimed at counterfeiting and piracy. The first action of “Operation: In Our Sites” was to seize nine domain names of websites that were offering first-run movies, sometimes within hours of their theatrical release... In the UK, a pair of counterfeiters who ran an illegal DVD copying operation, worth GBP 1 million, have been jailed for a total of three years. The court heard that raids uncovered 56,000 blank discs and another 67,000 ready for despatch as part of the case.

Policy developments include the signing of an agreement between China and Taiwan on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection. IPR violation is reportedly one of the biggest causes of disputes between Chinese and Taiwanese companies... The UK government will reportedly oppose international moves to criminalise illegal file-sharing. They will, instead, argue for an improved framework to support existing laws... authorities in Manchester, UK, are leading a campaign to crackdown on gangs that sell counterfeit cigarettes to children. A survey has shown that over 8000 young people in the region have purchased fake cigarettes at some point.

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