Seizures and discoveries include in Italy, the authorities carried out raids on 17 warehouses yielding counterfeit merchandise from China worth more than €20 million... In Dubai, a joint investigation between HP and Dubai police uncovered one of the largest seizures of counterfeit print cartridges and components... In the USA, $340,000 worth of counterfeit clothing has been impounded from a local shop... In the UK, HM Revenue and Customs discovered more than £1 million worth of counterfeit cigarettes... Very large seizures of pirated DVDs and CD took place in a number of countries including Malaysia and the USA.

Cases and outcomes include in the UK, five men were found guilty for running the UK’s largest DVD pirating operation, netting approximately £7 million... Also in the UK, a husband and wife have been jailed for four years and 18 months respectively, for importing more than 15 million fake cigarettes into the country... In the US, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the woman ordered to pay $1.92 million in fines for illegally distributing copyrighted songs over the internet, said she will appeal the verdict... Security software maker Symantec Corp. was reportedly awarded $18.6 million in damages in cases against two distributors selling counterfeiting Symantec software.

Studies and reports out include one showing that seizures of counterfeit goods smuggled into the European Union more than doubled last year up 125%... A report from the United Nations states that fake pharmaceuticals pose a greater risk to West Africa than the problem of narcotics smuggling.

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