Stores that sell pirated goods may face closure if new copyright laws fail, the director of the Intellectual Property Department warned yesterday.
Stephen Selby said four new bills updating copyright laws and giving extra seizure powers to Customs officers were expected to be passed before the handover.
They cover patents, copyright, registration of designs and trademarks and will supersede the Copyright Ordinance.
But Mr Selby warned sellers of fake goods and their landlords that closure orders were in store if the new laws proved to be ineffective within a year.
'You will have, in effect, a black hole, which you cannot rent out or live in. Property owners will have the responsibility to take care of what takes place on their premises.' Robert Arnold, a lawyer and spokesman for the Alliance Against CD-ROM Theft and the Business Software Alliance, said the closure measure should have been written into the bills.
'I have no sympathy for landlords who are getting rich yet claiming innocence,' he said.
