COPYRIGHT: PIRACY, A GREEK SPECIALITY.

The practice owes much to the Greek mentality but also to failings on the part of the authorities, according to Emmanuel Yannakoudakis, a Professor of information technology. AEPI spokes-person Maria Fassoulakis claims the state has failed to act adequately to curb the activities of a number counterfeiting mafias, despite of the loss of between 15 and 20 billion Drachmas (Euro 45 to 60 million) in tax revenue each year. More than 300,000 pirate CDs, mostly manufactured domestically, were however seized in 1999, compared with fewer than 100,000 in previous years.Passed in 1993, the law protecting intellectual property is one of the strictest in Europe, providing for prison sentences of up to five years for counterfeiters, according to Irini Tsiliri, a legal experts with the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry). However, she claims the law is not always applied to the letter. The BSA, which brought 30 cases of piracy before the courts in 1999, prefers as a result to initiate civil proceedings and seek compensation, according to one of its experts who wished to remain anonymous. Tracking software pirates, notably on the basis of calls by informers to a "hotline" often advertised in the press, the BSA is calling for greater assistance from the State, in particular through the creation of a specialised service at the Ministry of...