DTI wants malls to refrain from selling pirated CDs, VCDs

The Department of Trade and Industry has urged all mall owners nationwide to clean their premises of pirated optical media products.

In a letter addressed to mall owners, DTI calls for the ban on sale of pirated music and software CDs and movie VCDs and DVDs and the like inside their premises and to impose strict penalties against lessees found selling illegal copies of optical media products.

DTI wants the inclusion of a clause in lessees' contracts which expressly requires them to promise not to sell illegal copies of copyrighted music, movies, or software and to impose pecuniary penalties for violating the clause.

"The Philippines needs to show the world that it can live up to its treaty commitments. The Philippines is viewed by many of our international trading partners as among the worst violators of intellectual property rights enshrined in a number of international agreements, this poses a potential damage to our foreign trade relations, especially the United States, which is still our biggest trading partner and a major source of foreign direct investments," the letter read.

The United States Trade Representative continues to list the Philippines in the Special 301 Priority Watchlist.

DTI also urges mall owners to assist government in stopping the rampant piracy of copyrighted products. "We need the close coordination of government and the business community to effectively enforce the country's intellectual property rights (IPR) laws," DTI said. - Jasmin R.Uy