[Commons-Law] One Kilo of Cannabis versus One Kilo of Pirated CD's

[Lawrence Liang]

Hi all

So here is a report with an interesting claim about piracy form the 
european Commision It says that One killo of Cannabis brings in 2000 
euros while one kilo of pirated cd's brings in 3000 euros, and that it 
is more profitable to engage in CD piracy than in drugs: Wow

But since i was not sure of the maths of a kilo of CD's works out and 
checked for myself, that a kilo of CD's is around 40 cd's

The article says that from 'a profit point of view, the trade in fake 
CDs and DVDs is giving drug trafficking a run for its money. "One kilo 
of cannabis sold in Europe will bring in less than €2,000, a kilo of 
pirate or counterfeit CDs will bring in €3,000," the report said. It 
also say that the pirated CD's are sold for around half a euro each, 
which means that you earn around 20 euros from the sale of 40 pirated 
CDs, so how does this leap happen where it suddenly becomes more 
profitable than selling cannabis?

I am presuming that they mean that if the legit CD had been sold (50 
euro x 40= 2000 euros), then it would be 2000 euros, so will someone 
slightly better than me at maths explain this curios phenomenon... 
Alternatively it is also possible that the report was written after 
sampling one kilo of cannabis and one kilo of pirated CD's


Lawrence




http://hardware.silicon.com/storage/0,39024649,39117084,00.htm


  Pirated CD seizures fall 70 per cent

More profitable than drugs and evading customs

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By Christophe Guillemin <mailto:editorial at silicon.com>

Published: 26 November <http://www.silicon.com/archive/26-Nov-2003.htm> 
2003 <http://www.silicon.com/archive/#year2003> 14:30 GMT

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According to the latest statistics from European customs, seizures of 
pirate CDs, DVDs and video tapes have fell by 70 per cent last year 
compared to 2001. Entertainment is still second on the fake products 
list, just behind the humble cigarette.

A statement from the EC has revealed the figures from customs at the 
EU's external borders. "The numbers of CDs, DVDs and [video] cassettes 
seized were down significantly, from 40 million in 2001 to about 12 
million in 2002," it said.

The annual report from the Commission's tax and customs authorities 
continued: "This fall can be put down to the scope for downloading off 
the internet but also to customs action against the traffic in blank CDs."

Even if seizures have fallen, CDs, DVDs and videos are still among the 
most common counterfeit goods turning up at European borders. In 2002, 
customs authorities confiscated nearly 12 million of them – around 14 
per cent of their total haul, with cigarettes leading the way at 36.9 
per cent.

The countries most often found to be 'exporting' counterfeit goods are 
in Asia – with Thailand and Malaysia each producing 22 per cent - but 
the third place goes to Belgium with 16 per cent. Brussels isn't giving 
out any details on the Belgium's counterfeiting operations but waxes 
lyrical about what it calls the "CD-Thai connection".

The report explained that customs are often led to discover many tens of 
thousands of pirated CDs in a single commercial consignment, very often 
packaged in the same way – around a hundred discs packed in rolls that 
weigh under two kilos.

 From a profit point of view, the trade in fake CDs and DVDs is giving 
drug trafficking a run for its money. "One kilo of cannabis sold in 
Europe will bring in less than €2,000, a kilo of pirate or counterfeit 
CDs will bring in €3,000," the report said. The average value of a disc 
for a games console on the European market will vary between €55 and 
€60. The selling price for a counterfeited version of the same disc is 
around half a euro each, the report continued.

The tax authorities have also noted that the figures have shown up a 
significant rise in counterfeiting in the area of mobile phones. It's a 
key development, they believe, saying: "The figures show a rise of 
almost 503 per cent in the number of seizures in 2002, compared to 2000… 
This can be explained by the success of the mobile" – a theory borne out 
by the recent scare over exploding Nokia batteries 
<http://www.silicon.com/networks/mobile/0,39024665,10006347,00.htm>.

IT hardware, on the other hand – PCs, monitors, printers and so on – 
represents "only" 0.1 per cent of the goods seized by customs in 2002.

/Christophe Guillemin writes for ZDNet France./

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