[Commons-Law] One Kilo of Cannabis versus One Kilo of Pirated CD's
Pranesh Prakash
pranesh at cis-india.org
Mon Aug 24 12:57:37 IST 2009
Resending a 2008 mail accidentally sent only to Lawrence, instead of the
mailing list.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Commons-Law] One Kilo of Cannabis versus One Kilo of
Pirated CD's
Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 22:11:19 +0530
From: Pranesh Prakash <the.solipsist at gmail.com>
To: Lawrence Liang <lawrence at altlawforum.org>
References: <483A7788.7060601 at altlawforum.org>
Alternatively it is also possible that the report was written after
sampling one kilo of cannabis and one kilo of pirated CD's
That is most probably the case. Independent calculations by me, trying
to account for manufacturing costs, also peg the profit at around €20
(€22.40).
*Needless elaboration on your comments follow, but which I found
interesting as a experiment in figuring out costs.*
As you point out, the article meant to say that a kilo of CDs are
*worth* more than a kilo of cannabis, and instead ended up smuggling CDs
is more profitable. According to the article, a consignment of around
around a hundred discs "... weigh under two kilos". So, it takes the
figure of 50 discs per kilo and considers the cost of a disc as €60.50.
So, basically, *all *disc (clubbed together as "entertainment") that
are sold are Grand Theft Auto IV discs, and none of them are movie/music
CDs which are as low as one-sixth the cost. By the way, some internet
research throws up the figure of 15-16 g as the weight of a CD. So, by
that reckoning, there ought to be around 64 CDs in a kilogramme. Using
that figure, the price of a CD (for profits of €3000) comes to around €48.
You put the figure of profit as €20, but that doesn't subtract cost
(which you take to be negligible). I thought, what if we factored for
manufacuring costs as well. Below you find my calculations.
I wish someone could provide us with better figures, because my
estimations run like this:
Last I enquired, Rs.8 can get you a blank CD (bought in bulk, without
any packaging). Thus, the cost of manufacturing a CD in a slipcase,
with "entertainment" burnt on to it, plus shipping, would probably
be around (Rs.5+1+1+3) Rs.10. That, in Euros would be €0.15. The CDs
are sold for around half a Euro. So, the profit on each CD is around
€0.35. That multiplied by 64 CDs (for a kilogramme) would make it
*€22.40 per kg*. A loss of "€3000" equals a profit of €22.4.
Regards,
Pranesh
On 5/26/08, *Lawrence Liang* <lawrence at altlawforum.org
<mailto:lawrence at altlawforum.org>> wrote:
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
<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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Pranesh Prakash
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