Bulgaria Holds EU Internet Piracy Record

Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetanov Tsvetanov (l) with Frances Moore, after the signing of the memorandum for copyrights protection. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria ranks first in the European Union by internet piracy, according to the European Director of the International Recording Federation, Frances Moore.

Moore met Tuesday with Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetanov Tsvetanov, for the signing of a memorandum for copyrights protection between the Interior, the Federation and the Business Software Alliance.

Meanwhile, the European Commission points out that since 2008 until now, 100 000 jobs have been lost over intellectual property piracy and if the trend is to continue, this number will reach 1.2 million by 2015.

Data, presented at the meeting, shows that over 60% of the software in Bulgaria is illegal compared to 35% on average in Europe.

Moore also said that Bulgaria cannot develop a normal musical industry market over the lack of laws to stop internet piracy.

The meeting participants asked Tsvetanov to consider measures such as internet providers monitoring the users and fining violators after 2 warnings.

The Minister replied that such measures are going to be discussed at round tables and public forums in order to reach consensus in the society while police employees, from all over Bulgaria, will be trained to deal with copyright crimes.

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