Original report from Phnom Penh
08 September 2008
Phnom Penh's video vendors are facing a new crackdown by authorities, who warn the sale of pirated copies CDs or DVDs will lead to jail or fines.
"We will not allow the illegal CDs and DVDs to be sold in Cambodian markets," said Kong Kang Dara, director of the cinema secretariat of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. "We must strengthen the Cambodian intellectual property law and promote the protection of intellectual property."
Kong Kang Dara is a member of a newly formed joint committee comprised of authorities from the ministries of Interior, Defense, Justice, Women's Affairs, and Culture. The committee met with more than 250 vendors Friday to warn them of the impending crackdown.
Under a national subdecree, vendors who are caught selling pirated material will first face a fine of $2.70 per illegal disc. Those who don't comply will face the courts, under an intellectual property law that allows for one year in jail and a fine of $5,250.
"We will use secret, strong and clear tactics to confiscate the illegal CDs and DVDs, because it is a necessary time to promote legal products and innovation," Kong Kang Dara said.
Leu Siv, a CD and DVD shop owner at Central Market, said she had heard the crackdown was coming and had stopped selling illegal copies for fear of facing fines. Asked whether the crackdown would hurt her business, she only laughed.
Lay Sokhok, chief of Sunday Production, which produces karaoke and music CDs and DVDs, welcomed the official crackdown.
His company loses at least $200,000 per year in sales due to pirated copies of his work in Cambodian markets, he said.
Cambodia is facing a 2013 deadline from the World Trade Organization to eliminate the sale of pirated content.
Phnom Penh has more than 1,000 stalls that sell pirated versions of movies, karaoke and music, Kong Kang Dara said, but that number does not include mobile vendors who move from place to place boxes of pirated goods.
Authorities confiscate more than 10,000 illegal CDs and DVDs per year, he said.
"We will not allow the illegal CDs and DVDs to be sold in Cambodian markets," said Kong Kang Dara, director of the cinema secretariat of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. "We must strengthen the Cambodian intellectual property law and promote the protection of intellectual property."
Kong Kang Dara is a member of a newly formed joint committee comprised of authorities from the ministries of Interior, Defense, Justice, Women's Affairs, and Culture. The committee met with more than 250 vendors Friday to warn them of the impending crackdown.
Under a national subdecree, vendors who are caught selling pirated material will first face a fine of $2.70 per illegal disc. Those who don't comply will face the courts, under an intellectual property law that allows for one year in jail and a fine of $5,250.
"We will use secret, strong and clear tactics to confiscate the illegal CDs and DVDs, because it is a necessary time to promote legal products and innovation," Kong Kang Dara said.
Leu Siv, a CD and DVD shop owner at Central Market, said she had heard the crackdown was coming and had stopped selling illegal copies for fear of facing fines. Asked whether the crackdown would hurt her business, she only laughed.
Lay Sokhok, chief of Sunday Production, which produces karaoke and music CDs and DVDs, welcomed the official crackdown.
His company loses at least $200,000 per year in sales due to pirated copies of his work in Cambodian markets, he said.
Cambodia is facing a 2013 deadline from the World Trade Organization to eliminate the sale of pirated content.
Phnom Penh has more than 1,000 stalls that sell pirated versions of movies, karaoke and music, Kong Kang Dara said, but that number does not include mobile vendors who move from place to place boxes of pirated goods.
Authorities confiscate more than 10,000 illegal CDs and DVDs per year, he said.
5 comments:
I think this person is living in la la land. If you confiscate all the legal copied DVDs and CDs then you will have to close down all shops in Cambodia. Soriya, Sovanna, all the main markets and all main businesses in Cambodia. All the CDs DVDs that are used in this country are all copies. There is no way local people can afford original DVDs that cost more than $50 per DVD, if you compare this to the 2 dollar copies. What I think people should be doing is stopping all the porno-graphic VCDs and DVDs being sold by children on the streets at beer gardens, and restaurants!
Living cost now is so expensive that drive Cambodians become so materialists!
Cambodians now become too materialistic! They prefer to buy nice motorcycles 200,000 import per year and nice clothes, car, and mobile phone... not books or donation to the landless and poor.
Even the poor farmer prefer to borrow 180% interest per year on fertiliser, but borrow high interest to buy Dream Honda of $1,700.
Spicy Group
This is the result of Civil War!
The result of the breaking down like the story of " Things fall apart" about how U.K. started to colonize Africa.
After breaking down, Cambodia under U.S., then, China, then Vietnam,
now , under many different directions.
Look at Cambodian Law:
We use Japanese law (civil Law) for the fact we knew so little about the Japanese thinking.
We use French law for Criminal Law
Labor Law is so confusing with too many different experts
The guy named Lay Sokhok of Sunday productions claimed he had lost thousands of dollars a year, but doesn't he know that all his company's work is also pirated copy?
Officials got much damn time on their hand, damn pigs
That one of the way that the CPP
high ranks use to collect monies
from the poor sellers.
The coercision power is so powerful
in Cambodia.
The best example is the phone's call
from the Internet.
Is it lawful or unlawful???
Only polices decide that when
is lawful and when is not..
Anyway, i can almost get all the softwares
i want in Canada without paying.
So why bother small countries like Cambodia.
Too small market!!! Gray Market...
Anyway, how about casinos and karaoke?
Is it lawful or unlawful??
2 years ago, hun sen have saided that
casinos are unfawful.
Khmer Canadian
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