NBI warning: Own bootleg CDs, face arrest

Five pesos for a "Gloriagate" compact disc may indeed be a bargain, but not if the price tag includes 30 to 90 days in prison for violation of the Anti-Wiretapping Law.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Assistant Regional Director Justo Justo Yap said yesterday those violating Republic Act 4200, or the Anti-Wiretapping Law, could be meted the maximum penalty of six months to six years in prison if convicted.

The NBI issued the reminder yesterday amid reports that bootleg CD copies had hit the streets. The proffered CDs reportedly contained copies of the alleged wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano concerning election fraud in Mindanao during last year’s polls.

Yap noted the NBI could not charge the vendor, much less the vendee, of violating the Intellectual Property Code because the CD has no copyright, thus there is no infringement of copyright ownership.

"This is a product of illegal activity which is wiretapping. This is not a product of piracy," he said.

Yap clarified that, in comparing the penalties for both sanctions, the government reserves harsher punishment for violators of RA4200. Both offenses are bailable, though.

Under the Intellectual Property Code, manufacturers of pirated compact disc recordings could face between one to three years in prison and payment of a fine ranging from P100,000 to P500,000 if convicted of the crime.

For mere possession of the clandestine CD, though, the penalty is only 30 to 90 days in detention.

Yap said he immediately dispatched his men to areas where the pirated CDs were reportedly being sold, but somehow the peddlers eluded them — along with the pirated merchandise. Each CD was being sold at a low price of P5, compared to the normal rate of P35 to P50 for recorded CDs, while blank discs cost between P6 to P11.

"It was only yesterday that I received the directive from Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez but NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco already relayed to me the verbal directive two days ago," he added.

Operatives of the IPRD descended on stalls looking for the pirated CDs in Sta. Cruz and Arlegui Street in Quiapo yesterday, but their search proved futile.

Meanwhile, administration lawmakers called on authorities to immediately investigate the proliferation of CDs containing the allegedly wiretapped conversations between Mrs. Arroyo and Garcillano, and charge the brains behind the CDs’ distribution.

In a statement, House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin and Nueva Ecija Rep. Auerlio Umali said the wide availability of the CD is clearly part of a plan to agitate the people and try the President in the court of public opinion.

They said the disclosure made earlier by the Katipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY) about distributing hundreds of copies of the CD tapes in Baclaran should not preclude authorities from conducting a full-blown investigation to unmask those behind the mass reproduction of the CD.