~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2001]
[Year 2002]

Vietnam destroys discs, books in piracy purge

HANOI - Nearly 36,000 music, video and computer discs, 60,000 print advertisements and 15,668 books have been destroyed in the Vietnamese capital in a purge against piracy and "cultural pollution", officials said. Over 450 calendars and 1,097 advertising banners were also incinerated on Thursday in the third crackdown of the year in Hanoi against unlicensed and pirated goods.

"We destroyed these products mainly because they were fake or unauthorised copies rather than because they contained poisonous material," an official from the city's culture and information department said. However, he added that some of VCDs contained pornography. The majority of the books that were set alight were illegal copies of best-sellers, but there were also some with "superstitious" content, the official said.

Vietnam's communist government still remains suspicious about pagan and other traditional beliefs, fearing they could undermine its grip on power. This year, departmental inspectors have imposed more than 709 million dong (46,340 dollars) against shopkeepers in fines and confiscated 105,093 discs and 33,586 books, the official said.

However, the total number of discs destroyed is likely to be a drop in the ocean compared to the real number produced and sold on an annual basis. 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.

The Business Software Alliance, a global software watchdog, ranked Vietnam as its worst offender for 2001, saying 94 percent of all computer programs in use in the country were pirated. Piracy is a flourishing industry in Vietnam, with everything from make-up to designer luggage available for sale.

Agence France Presse - November 22, 2002.