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BY IME SORNITO
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ILOILO City – Operatives of the Optical Media Board (OMB) seized P65-million worth of pirated digital video discs (DVDs) and compact discs (CDs) from an estimated 24 kiosks in the City Proper and La Paz districts.
The confiscations started around 1 p.m. yesterday. The sellers were taken by surprise.
The kiosk owners would be charged with violating Republic Act 9239 (Optical Media Act of 2003), according to OMB chairperson Anselmo Adriano who led the raids.
The Act ensures the protection and promotion of intellectual property rights.
The seized DVDs and CDs reached a total of 466 sacks. These would be used as evidences in court against the kiosk owners.
No kiosk owner, however, was arrested. Only their sales staff were in the kiosks at the time of the raids, said Adriano.
OMB conducted the raids with the help of the police.
Adriano could not say for certain there were factories of pirated DVDs and CDs in Iloilo.
“Madali namang bilihin ang mga gamit. All you need is a computer. Mag-install ka lang ng CD burner,” he said.
The confiscated DVDs and CDs would be destroyed after they have been presented as evidences in court, said Adriano.
Section 2 of Optical Media Act of 2003 states: “The unregulated mastering, manufacture, replication, importation and exportation of optical media in all forms is inimical to economic growth and public interest. Towards this end, the State shall institute the means to regulate the manufacture, mastering, replication, importation and exportation of optical media.”
He did not discount the possibility that the city government was blindsided by the kiosk owners when they applied for business permits.
“Baka naman nag-apply sila ng permit pero hindi nila dini-declare na tinitinda nila pirated,” he said.
Section 10 of the Act gives the OMB the power to “conduct inspections, by itself or in coordination with other competence agencies of the government, at anytime, with or without prior notice, of establishments or entities including those within the economic zones…, and employ reasonable force in the event that the responsible person or persons of such establishment or entity evades, obstructs, or refuses such inspection.”
Those found guilty of mastering, manufacturing, replicating, importing or exporting optical media without the necessary license from the OMB, and doing so for commercial profit or pecuniary gain without authority or consent of the owner face imprisonment of at least three years and a fine of not less than P500 thousand at the discretion of the court./PN
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