Vitorino set to leave pirates with no place to hide

Date: 16/01/03

By Peter Chapman

ANTONIO Vitorino, the justice and home affairs commissioner, is planning common EU-wide criminal sanctions against organised gangs who produce and peddle pirated goods.

The Portuguese crime chief wants every member state to have similar prison sentences to deter criminals from switching production from countries where judges are traditionally tough on piracy - such as producing fake CDs or DVDs - to ones with laxer enforcement.

Vitorino plans to canvas the views of EU police agency Europol and industry experts at a behind-closed-doors meeting in Brussels on 30 January, before finalising the plan.

But officials said the rules - which will require unanimous approval of governments - will fill the gaps left by a law expected to be unveiled soon by Frits Bolkestein, the internal market commissioner.

This will deal only with civil law issues - for example, fines against companies using fake software and the rights of patent owners to demand national court orders for searches and seizures on sites making, selling or using counterfeit products.

António Vitorino, the justice and home affairs commissioner, is planning common EU-wide criminal sanctions against organised gangs who produce and peddle pirated goods.