Seizures and discoveries last week include an anti-piracy operation in Mexico that raided 70 warehouses and 15 laboratories and recovered approximately 410,000 optical discs and 850 burners… In Canada, a counterfeit luxury goods operation has been disrupted and led to a seizure of over $500,000 worth of fake products… The Federal Investigation Agency has made a large seizure of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in Pakistan… In Ireland, authorities have shut down a factory producing fake vodka and seized enough alcohol to make more than 6000 bottles of the counterfeit spirit… In Bulgaria, a counterfeit wine operation has been closed down… In China, one baby has died and at least 432 babies have become ill after developing kidney stones from drinking fake milk powder.

Cases and outcomes last week include six people in the UK being charged in connection with a widely-used source of illegally-downloaded music; the OiNK website… Also in the UK, a man has been sentenced to three years in prison for selling illegal copies of music over the internet.

Policy developments last week include in the US, legislation being introduced in the senate called the ‘International Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Act of 2008’. The legislation is aimed at spurring on countries where IP rights have been violated in the past to take specific steps to stop violations… The Cambodian Ministry of Culture is set to enforce a nation-wide ban on pirated music and movies amid mounting international pressure.