Experts on market of pirate products

According to the Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR), loses from the selling of counterfeit products in Russia amounted to more than $2bn. This year the figure might amount to $4-5bn, CIPR President Peter Necarsulmer declared at a news conference in Moscow today.

According to a survey conducted by the organization in Moscow, some 93 percent of the respondents bought counterfeit products in 2002. One fourth of them said that they were aware of buying a pirate product. A majority of the 1,200 Muscovites questioned admitted that they bought pirate products due to their low incomes. The poll was conducted from November 5 to December 5, 2002.