Apprehension of three information technology pirates

The police of Essaouira (central southwest) seized over 400 counterfeited CD-ROMs and arrested three individuals and charged with piracy.

The police also seized a number of IT materials, including a central processing unit, a CD burner, a colour printer and several forged printed materials containing logos of music production companies.

Morocco has made of the crackdown on piracy one of its priorities for 2005 because of the economic and moral damages it causes. Figures say this phenomenon costs Morocco MAD 2 billion (USD 222m) of economic losses with an average rate of over 70% in the sectors of software, music and cinema.

To ward off the impact of this phenomenon, the north African country has enforced an act that incriminates piracy and protects the intellectual property.

The three suspects have been sent to court on charges of counterfeiting, forgery and swindling, and violation of copyrights.