News

November 23, 2002

Vietnamese authorities burn pirated material

(ABC Radio Australia News) - Nearly 36-thousand music, video and computer discs, 60-thousand print advertisements and 15-thousand books have been destroyed in the Vietnamese capital in a purge against piracy and "cultural pollution".

Calendars and advertising banners were also incinerated in the third crackdown of the year in Hanoi against unlicenced and pirated goods.

The majority of the books were illegal copies of best-sellers.

This year, departmental inspectors have imposed more than 46-thousand dollars against shopkeepers in fines and confiscated 105-thousand discs and 33-thousand books.

Most bootlegged discs are smuggled in from abroad, particularly Cambodia and China, and are often sold by shops who have paid off local police to turn a blind eye.
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