Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-04-Speech-4-015"

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"Mr President, I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to Mrs Fourtou on this important report. It is vital for intellectual property to be protected. There are huge financial interests at stake for companies or people in possession of intellectual property. The development of society may suffer because artists are less inclined, in view of the enormous amount of counterfeiting that takes place, to invest time, energy and creativity in new products. The taxation system is adversely affected as a result, because counterfeiting is usually done on the black market. So I welcome the fact that something is to be done about it. If rules are to be put in place, then, as a liberal, I feel they ought to go the whole distance and not just part of the way. Indeed, that is why rules must be put in place, and why we have tabled an amendment together with other groups to make the end-user liable for punishment for possession. After all, as long as the end-user is able, without let or hindrance, to possess and make use of counterfeit products, there will still be a market for them and it will be difficult to cut off the producers and manufacturers at source because it is easy to make a profit and it will also continue to be a lucrative business. Therefore, we are pleased that several groups have given their support to Amendment No 8, which states that possession will have a deterrent and preventive effect on the consumer. This will be under certain provisos, of course, because the amendment came about on the basis of a compromise. We welcome the fact that possession is to be made punishable, or that the possibility will exist of making it punishable in any case, and I would like to see this extended to the handling of stolen goods; if someone were to offer me a bicycle at a very low price, I would not buy it. It is a different way of thinking and the intention is not to introduce a separate supervisory body. This report has got us off to a good start, but we do hope that the Member States will implement it in an effective and robust manner."@en1

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