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Laws aim to stop pirates at source

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There are a lot of ordinances governing intellectual property in Hong Kong: the Trademark Ordinance, Copyright Ordinance, Prevention of Copyright Piracy Ordinance, Patents Ordinance and Registered Designs Ordinance.

But, none of the statues target consumers.

The possession of counterfeits is not generally an offence. The exception is knowingly possessing forged banknotes and coins, which is an offence under the Crimes Ordinance.

People are free to buy and possess counterfeits.

An offence is only committed when, for example, a copyright is being infringed when pirated software is installed into a computer.

Should the law make the possession of counterfeits an offence? The music industry claims that such measures would be a strong deterrent. However such measures have several flaws.

In certain circumstances, possession of a product without using it is not illegal.

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