Anti-computer piracy group Business Software Alliance (BSA) says it is worried a dramatic increase in CD-Rom pressing operations in Hong Kong could lead to an upturn in the illegal copying of software in the SAR.
Since the beginning of the year, CD (compact disc) production lines have increased from five to about 30, the organisation said.
The disclosure comes within a month of US-trade officials reviewing Hong Kong's position on a special watch list of countries that it is scrutinising for intellectual property rights problems.
Moving to a higher grade list carries the ultimate threat of trade sanctions.
Baker & McKenzie intellectual property lawyer Robert Arnold, the BSA legal counsel, said manufacturers moving into Hong Kong and Macau reflected that conditions for carrying out their business on the mainland were becoming more difficult.
'Many of these may well be involved in supplying the legitimate boom in the market for VCD [video compact discs] in China, however, when this boom is over there will be huge over-capacity and they may turn to counterfeiting,' he said.