Seizures of counterfeit goods took place at a number of locations around the US, impounding clothing, luxury goods and pirated DVDs and CDs… Pirated optical discs have also been seized in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Cases and outcomes reported include luxury goods group LVMH winning compensation over allegations that Burlington Coat Factory sold counterfeit versions of its bag designs… A joint operation between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and Puerto Rico Bureau of Special Investigations has led to the arrest of 21 individuals involved in the pirating of CDs and DVDs… A Beijing court has found Yahoo, China’s music service, guilty of facilitating mass copyright infringement… Software company Symantec has been awarded $21 million in damages against a large network of distributors selling counterfeit software… A school in the Philippines has filed a civil case against Microsoft Corp. for illegal distribution of copyrighted material.

Studies and reports out include a survey done in the UK which found that 38 percent of people think that illegally downloading copyrighted files from the internet is less serious than shoplifting… A survey in South Korea showed that nearly half of internet users in the country illegally download a full-length movie every week…. A study by the WHO in India has found that cheap medicines are just as prone to counterfeiting as the more expensive ones.

The BASCAP digest would like to wish all of it’s subscribers merry Christmas and a happy and new year.