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PORNOGRAPHY and computer software are among the most pirated products that have flooded the market, the Zambia Police Intellectual Property Unit has disclosed.
National coordinator Omari Muwowo said pornography accounts for more than 50 per cent of the pirated Digital Visual Discs (DVDs) that the unit had intercepted recently.
Mr Muwowo said apart from pornography, operating systems for computers had been the other target for software pirates being perpetuated by some big companies
He said buying an operating system meant for one computer and using it on several others was the commonest form of piracy some Information Technology (IT) experts were practising.
“Unfortunately, pornography is on the increase among the counterfeit DVDs the intellectual property has been intercepting. But the biggest is software piracy being done by IT personnel even in big companies and banks,” he said.
Mr Muwowo warned companies and individuals to register their trademarks with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA).
He gave an example of the Football Association of Zambia logo which was not registered under PACRA and had left the door open for people to flood the market with counterfeit replica jerseys.
Mr Muwowo said flooding the country with counterfeit goods was detrimental to Zambia’s economy because genuine products ended up being disadvantaged.
Recently, the Intellectual Property Unit raided a backyard garage in Lusaka that was manufacturing counterfeit baby powder and body lotions under worldwide renowned trademark Johnson & Johnson, while a truckload of sanitary pads was intercepted at Mwami Border Post.
The police command has since introduced an intellectual property curriculum at its three training schools and is also in the process of decentralising the unit to all parts of Zambia.
