Greek holiday warning on fake CDs, buy them you go to Jail

Quakester2000 used our news submit to tell us about yet another way to go to prison for copyright abuse. This time we are in Greece.

Millions of holidaymakers going to Greece this summer have been warned they could be jailed for buying pirated CDs after a buyer was imprisoned. A man was jailed for three months by an Athens court for buying illegal CDs in the country"s first case of its kind. He had been arrested as he bought two CDs from a vendor in Athens last week, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI). The group gave a clear warning it would target buyers of counterfeit CDs. IFPI spokesman Ion Stamboulis said: "This is not a symbolic measure. We are determined to prosecute the buyers and we have the support of the authorities." Greece has the worst piracy rate in western Europe.

In
Greece, 10 million pirated CDs are sold each year, which equals the sales of
genuine CDs. They run about six euros (£4) each and are sold openly on the
streets, outside cafes or on beaches. There is some speculation that the
man mentioned in the article may be an example, to hopefully ward off any
activity increases during the Olympics. The authorities are expecting quite
a surge of business for those weeks. If you would like to discuss this issue
(seems to be a rash of these harsh laws today) there is a thread already started
in the Club Living Room Forum. Also, you can read the full article here.

Source: BBC News