This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 BRASILIA 001668 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, EB/TPP/MTA/IPC SWILSON, AND CA/VO 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR SCRONIN, LYANG AND BPECK 
USDOC FOR 
4322/ITA/MAC/WH/OLAC/WBASTIAN/JANDERSEN/DMCDO UGALL/ADRISCOLL 
USDOC FOR 3134/USFCS/OIO/EOLSON/DDEVITO 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/SEGAL 
NCS FOR DEMPSEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR KCRM PGOV ECON BR IPR
SUBJECT: PIRACY CPI CLOSES WITH SERIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
Refs: A) Brasilia 1384 B) Rio de Janeiro 765 C) 2003 Sao Paulo 
 
1186 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: The Chamber of Deputies' Parliamentary 
Investigative Commission (CPI) on Piracy and Tax Evasion 
released a draft version of its final report on June 8, making 
recommendations of unprecedented scope for Brazil, including 
draft legislation, revisions to the penal procedures code and 
the adoption of a coordinated national plan to address the 
problem of piracy in Brazil.  The report contains chapters on 
specific industries (paras 10 - 19) as well as on criminal acts 
that have come to the CPI's attention during the last year 
(para 20 and septel).  The CPI presented a final version of the 
report to Justice Minister Bastos on June 23 along with a 
request for his support of the recommendations, particularly 
the national plan.  The CPI is now officially deactivated, but 
executive members plan to request the formation of a formal 
congressional working group with legal standing to follow 
through with the cases initiated by the CPI.  Plans are also 
underway for a formal ceremony in mid-August to launch a book 
version of the report and present it to the President of the 
Chamber and to President Lula.  While the fanfare surrounding 
the CPI and the recommendations from its report have greatly 
raised the profile of the fight against piracy, it is uncertain 
that there is the government will and, perhaps more 
importantly, the resources to put the good ideas into action. 
End summary. 
 
Broad Recommendations 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  The CPI's over-arching recommendation is the formulation of 
a "National Plan to Combat Piracy" and creation of a 
corresponding government body responsible for intelligence 
gathering, policy formation and public outreach efforts.  This 
agency would be responsible for coordination with federal and 
state police, various state and federal ministries, as well as 
representatives of affected businesses and civil society. 
Among the plan's primary objectives are: 
 
--  execution of educational campaigns and institutional 
support of privately sponsored campaigns to inform the average 
citizen of intellectual property rights, the economic damage 
piracy causes, and piracy's link with organized crime; 
--  creation and maintenance of a national database allowing 
for the cross-referencing of intelligence in the 
investigation of organized crime; 
--  support the creation in every state of a specific 
division within the Secretariat for Public Security that 
coordinates operations and centralizes information through 
the creation of specialized police units that interlink with 
municipal authorities; 
--  incentives for special operations with the Attorney 
General's office and the Federal Police to break up piracy 
mafias; 
--  combating the entry of illegal products and legal 
products destined for criminal purposes; 
--  coordination of inspection/surveillance at ports, 
airports and land borders to include training of the key 
personnel; 
--  training and capacity-building for police and inspection 
agencies on the federal, state and municipal level. 
 
¶3.  The CPI notes that the goals of its plan correspond in 
large part to the 2001 Presidential Decree that created the 
Inter-Ministerial Committee to Combat Piracy (CICP).  Citing 
the lack of desired results and the growing rate of piracy 
since then, the CPI concludes that its national plan and 
corresponding agency should replace the CICP.  The draft report 
also suggests that the Executive branch undertake the revision 
of a treaty with Paraguay regarding the use of bonded 
warehouses at the ports of Santos (Sao Paulo) and Paranagua 
(Parana), as well as provide more personnel and more 
technologically-advanced equipment to customs and police 
inspectors at ports of entry. 
 
¶4.  Formal proposals directed at various levels of the 
government put forward the CPI's recommendations and conclude 
the draft report.  The national plan and the treaty revision 
are directed to the Executive branch; improved inspection for 
counterfeit auto parts during auto-licensing procedures is 
directed to state governors; the request to expedite cases and 
sentencing of those involved in organized crime is directed to 
the judicial branch, etc.  Three specific requests involve Law 
Kin Chong, the notorious alleged smuggler arrested earlier this 
month attempting to bribe the CPI President (ref A):  one to 
the Minister of Justice requesting the reactivation of a 7-year- 
old Sao Paulo federal police investigation of his business 
activities; one to the Sao Paulo state prosecutor making the 
same request; and one to the Minister of Justice requesting the 
formation of a special task-force (comprised of Federal Police, 
Attorney General, the Revenue Service, and the Sao Paulo 
Secretary for Public Security) to investigate Chong's criminal 
 
SIPDIS 
activities. 
 
¶5.  Two draft bills suggested by the CPI would alter the penal 
procedures legislation in reference to crimes against 
intellectual property.  The CPI's objective is to treat these 
crimes with greater severity as a means of deterrence, as well 
as to ease the work of law enforcement authorities in 
apprehending and prosecuting perpetrators. Its recommendations 
go beyond the legislation the GoB passed in July 2003 with 
regard to certain copyright offenses (Ref C).  The new language 
adds computer programs to the list of intellectual works, and 
increases minimum penalties from less than one year to two 
years and two months, plus fines to avoid suspended sentences. 
One of the proposed changes modifies law 9.609/98 on IPR 
protections for software to include the 2 year and two months 
minimum sentence and adds publishing, publicizing and 
disseminating information on the sale, purchase, rental, import 
or export of pirated software by conventional or electronic 
methods as a crime. 
 
CPI's Testament 
--------------- 
 
¶6.  In a public session June 8, preceding release and 
subsequent approval of the draft report by the entire CPI, 
rapporteur Deputy Josias Quintal (PMDB-RJ) characterized the 
CPI's work over the last year as a first step on an arduous 
road of concrete action to rid Brazil of piracy.  He called 
piracy a serious obstacle to national development, noting that 
in today's world of technological advances and the Internet, 
intellectual capital is even more valuable than financial 
capital.  He strongly criticized the authorities that 
implicitly support piracy by allowing it to propagate in their 
midst.  While piracy is an international scourge, Quintal noted 
that it has become a part of the Brazilian culture, as laws do 
not impede it and the population remains largely oblivious to 
the harm it causes.  He emphasized that, while the media has 
played up the CPI's involvement in high-profile arrests or 
criminal allegations, the CPI's main responsibility is to 
document the Brazilian symptoms of the disease of piracy and 
tax evasion and suggest remedies, not to single-handedly cure 
the country by arresting all those responsible. 
 
¶7.  Quintal said that government negligence and omission are in 
large part responsible for the rampant nature of piracy in 
Brazil, citing the "Paraguay fair," an open market known as the 
central point of sale for pirated goods in Brasilia, as 
evidence of the government's complicity.  Passive and active 
corruption combined with insufficient inspections at ports of 
entry, lax application of laws and non-deterrent level 
sentences indicate a government mechanism in need of repair, he 
said.  He denied that the CPI sought to target the informal 
sector writ large -- the poor seller and buyer attempting to 
make ends meet -- but said the focus had been the organized 
crime elements that finance and profit from the trade. 
However, he highlighted the need for public awareness campaigns 
to demonstrate the danger and damage caused by piracy and 
thereby effect change in the average citizen's attitude and 
purchasing action. 
The Written Word 
---------------- 
 
¶8.  The report's introduction notes that the CPI undertook its 
work with the goal of providing a base to be further deepened 
via dissemination to society at large and to the three layers 
of government (federal, state and municipal) that would ideally 
result in a structural reengineering of the agencies 
responsible for combating the various crimes of piracy. 
Characterizing the report as simply the beginning of a 
Herculean task that will require the support of many across 
Brazilian society and beyond, the deputies make clear that they 
seek a paradigm that prevents and represses piracy in all its 
forms throughout the country.  To help achieve these ends, the 
CPI offers its report and recommendations, and urges that 
further study of the problem be undertaken in order to 
establish a legal framework capable of handling the evolving 
dimension and complexity of the issue. 
 
¶9.  The initial chapters of the report detail the organization, 
membership (para 23) and activities of the CPI, including a 
list of the individuals from whom the CPI requested testimony. 
Visits to Paraguay and Washington D.C. are described.  (Note: 
Post has not yet obtained the final version of the CPI's 
report, only the initial, hastily assembled 244-page draft.) 
The CPI also offers its working definition of piracy in the 
Brazilian context, which includes falsification, duplication, 
and tax evasion in the forms of contraband and embezzlement. 
Noting the sense of victory that swindling the authorities and 
legitimate businesses by buying pirated goods provokes in some 
consumers, the CPI offers anecdotal as well as statistical 
evidence of the broad public acceptance of piracy.  The 
deputies argue that it is not social problems that cause piracy 
but vice versa.  Piracy feeds unemployment, crimes against 
public health and the consumer, murder, extortion, and 
corruption, according to the report, hardly a victimless crime. 
 
Drinks, Cigarettes and Drugs 
---------------------------- 
 
¶10.  The body of the report details the major sectors 
investigated, including beverages (principally alcoholic), 
cigarettes, photocopiers, books, recording industry (CDs), 
DVDs, software, pharmaceutical products, eyewear, pay TV, 
automotive parts, and laptop computers/notebooks.  Many of the 
industries suffer unethical or illegal competition in the form 
of under-invoicing, use of sub-standard quality inputs, tax 
evasion through use of fraudulent stamps and forms and 
trademark infringement.  Dangers to public health are mentioned 
throughout the report, especially in reference to beverages, 
cigarettes, auto parts and pharmaceutical products.  Many of 
the recommendations specific to individual sectors address the 
need to improve inspections by health and customs authorities, 
revise taxation methods, toughen criminal penalties and launch 
educational campaigns so that piracy is perceived by the public 
as serious crime. 
 
¶11.  The main concerns of the beverage sector are unethical 
competition by way of trademark violations and adulteration of 
the products as well as a high tax rate (35 percent for beer) 
that encourages evasion and fraud.  Recommendations include 
more effective inspection of businesses and decreasing the tax 
rate, as well as draft legislation that would implement an 
outflow measurement system to aid authorities in conducting 
inspections. 
 
¶12.  The CPI dedicated much time and effort to investigating 
the piracy and tax evasion involved in the cigarette industry. 
One of the CPI's most publicized busts occurred in September 
2003 when notorious cigarette smuggler Roberto Eleuterio da 
Silva (aka Lobao) was arrested.  Cigarettes face an extremely 
high tax burden (65% of the cost to the consumer) in Brazil, 
but benefit from a favorable production environment in 
neighboring Paraguay. These factors, combined with porous 
borders, lax inspection and corruption, attract the criminal 
elements that have constructed a complex international network 
of individuals and "companies" involved in the smuggling of 
cigarettes.  The CPI report details several of the smuggling 
networks, naming names and citing wiretapped phone 
conversations that implicate government officials and others 
(septel).  The report recommends harsher penalties for 
smuggling contraband, more resources for Federal Police, health 
and tax inspection authorities, and swift completion of cases 
against Lobao and his cohorts.  The CPI also suggests that the 
Ministry of Health create special, more rigorous, authorization 
procedures for operation of cigarette factories. 
 
¶13.  The CPI investigated three cases of falsified or 
adulterated pharmaceutical products suspected of causing deaths 
and serious injury over the last year.  While these cases were 
not linked to tax evasion or organized crime, the CPI cites 
weaknesses in the inspection systems of ANVISA (Sanitary 
Surveillance Agency) as well as the negligence of individual 
producers for the errors that resulted in public health crises. 
The CPI also raises health concerns with regard to the eyewear 
sector, which suffers Chinese competition fueled by trademark 
infringement, tax evasion and sub-standard inputs, as well as a 
plethora of unlicensed business and distributors that purport 
to offer prescription lenses.  The report urges the Ministry of 
Health to improve ANVISA's inspections capabilities, to conduct 
systematic product raids at retail outlets and do laboratory 
analyses of the products, and to use the ANVISA registration 
system and data bank to provide correct and rapid information 
to the public regarding risks of dangerous products. 
 
Copyright 
--------- 
 
¶14.  Illegal photocopying of books, especially university 
students copying textbooks, comes in for heavy criticism in the 
report.  Book copyright infringement is committed on an 
industrial scale, providing an underground economy within many 
Brazilian universities, according to the report.  The CPI 
suggests increasing the penalty for this crime so that the 
majority of cases that are prosecuted do not result in 
suspended sentences (which is the case from crimes with a 
minimum penalty of one year or less) and urges the Ministry of 
Education to educate students as to the criminal nature of the 
activity, making the study of author's rights mandatory for all 
law graduates. 
 
¶15.  The CPI's investigation of CD and DVD piracy draws heavily 
on industry reports and statistics, focusing on the entry of 
virgin CD (CDRs) through ports and organized crime aspects, 
including a detailed look into some of Law Kin Chong's 
operations in the state of Amazonas.  One chapter describes a 
particular sting operation carried out by the Federal Police 
and Military Police of Amazonas against video rental 
establishments and based on an investigation by ADEPI (the 
Association for the Defense of Intellectual Property, linked 
with MPAA.)  Amazonas is said to be the center of audiovisual 
piracy in Brazil.  Chinese and Lebanese mafias operating 
through Paraguay are described as the major smugglers of 
Taiwanese origin CDRs - the report even notes that Philips has 
the patent on CD production in Brazil until 2009.  The CPI also 
highlights the damage piracy has on the Brazilian music 
industry, noting a reduction of 50% of the legitimate music 
market in the last five years, and describes some of the 
industry's efforts to fight CD piracy in Brazil. 
Recommendations in this sphere include revisions of the treaty 
with Paraguay concerning use of bonded warehouses, increased 
financial and human resources support for the Federal Police 
and the tax authorities, as well as the installation of non- 
intrusive inspection equipment (such as container x-ray 
machines) at ports. 
 
¶16.  The importance of Brazil's software industry as an engine 
of production for the economy as a whole sets the stage for the 
CPI's examination of software piracy.  The GoB's selection of 
software as one of the priority sectors for its industrial 
policy efforts, cited in the report, further emphasizes the 
stakes.  As with music and audiovisual piracy, the CPI draws 
heavily from industry reports and statistics provided by ABES 
(Brazilian Association of Software Companies) and BSA (Business 
Software Alliance) to demonstrate the damages caused by the 
proliferation of CD burners and the power of the internet used 
for nefarious purposes.  The methods of software piracy 
described in the report include industrial-level falsification 
which originates in large foreign production centers that 
package the products as the original to mislead the consumer, 
the small-scale local copying operations (consumer knows the 
product is counterfeit), hardware integrators who copy software 
on to computer hard drives for sale, corporate piracy where 
unauthorized copies of licensed software is distributed 
throughout the organization, and on-line piracy. 
 
¶17.  The CPI's proposals for combating software piracy center 
on the modifications legislation on penal procedures, the 
"Codigo de Processo Penal."   The changes would eliminate the 
need for the police to analyze each seized product, allow 
associations of right holders to legally store or warehouse 
seized goods, and allow associations of rights holder to allege 
violations and thereby precipitate legal investigations. 
 
Auto parts, Pay TV and Notebooks 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶18.  Piracy in the auto parts sector has its roots in foreign 
(Asian) production of counterfeit products smuggled into 
Brazil.  Job losses, increasing numbers of auto accidents and 
tax evasion are the result of piracy that has taken over 10% of 
the market, according to the CPI report.  The packaging and 
national distribution of falsified parts is centered in Sao 
Paulo state, and the CPI again recommends tighter customs 
inspections and state-conducted vehicle inspections to combat 
the crime.  Pay TV and telecommunications systems piracy 
involve organized crime as well as the individual users 
stealing signals, extending cables or using decoders.  The 
report describes piracy of distribution networks, TV as well as 
telephone, in low-income areas or favelas as a powerful tool of 
organized crime to subjugate entire communities, citing the 
case of a known criminal organization in Sao Paulo that has 
mounted and operates a clandestine telephone network.  The CPI 
recommends further study of the problem by law enforcement. 
 
¶19.  The CPI's investigation of illegally imported Toshiba 
notebooks or laptop computers started with allegations received 
by the Special Action Group to Repress Organized Crime (GAECO). 
The complaints alleged that several Brazilian companies import 
laptops from the U.S. without meeting Brazilian legal 
requirements or paying required tax, and sell the products via 
classified ads and the Internet.  The report goes into detail 
about seized documents and equipment, and alleges that the 
software on the notebooks was also pirated.  Again, 
recommendations center on more thorough customs inspections. 
 
Miscellaneous Chapters 
---------------------- 
 
¶20.  The report includes a chapter entitled "a multifaceted 
view of piracy," which attempts to delve beyond the surface of 
piracy (the poor vendor, the poor consumer, and the indifferent 
low-level authority) to assist the citizen in understanding the 
harm/dangers involved, the rubric of the informal economy 
versus legitimate small business, and the international 
implications.  The deputies take the position that each country 
needs to judge the effectiveness of its intellectual property 
rights regime, stating that "rights that aid development should 
be preserved and rights that entail more costs than benefits 
should be avoided."  Law Kin Chong (ref A) merits a separate 
chapter, while another chapter details the names and criminal 
activities of several private individuals and officials linked 
to cases investigated by the CPI, including Federal Deputy 
Pedro Correa (PP-PE), Federal Judge Joao Carlos Da Rocha 
Mattos, civil and federal police officials in Sao Paulo, and 
notorious cigarette smuggler Roberto Eleuterio da Silva (aka 
Lobao).  The CPI identifies over one hundred individuals and 
businesses involved in allegedly criminal activity related to 
piracy or tax evasion in its report.  In order to facilitate 
potential USG investigations, including efforts to cancel U.S 
visas, post will inform Department and law enforcement agencies 
of specific information contained in the report via septel. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶21.  The depth and breadth of the CPI's investigations are 
impressive, and the unprecedented scrutiny directed at the 
responsible authorities and Brazilian society at large deserves 
praise.  The close working relationship with the Brazilian 
private sector contributed greatly to the investigations and 
recommendations, and the frequently cited link between 
unrealized national economic development and piracy ring true 
for many in the GoB.  The report demonstrates the deputies' 
desire to produce a document that will serve as an educational 
tool, a means to reach out to Brazilians and affect positive 
change.  Attempts to create a legally-sanctioned working group 
to pursue the criminal cases developed with the CPI's 
assistance underscore the deputies' commitment, as well as a 
desire to disprove the naysayers that discounted the high- 
profile arrests as political grandstanding at the expense of 
law enforcement authorities. 
 
¶22.  The CPI correctly admits that its recommendation of a 
national plan to combat piracy draws greatly from the goals 
professed in the establishment of the Interministerial 
Committee (CICP).  The report does not offer reasons for the 
CICP's failure to make significant progress against piracy, but 
simply notes that the time has come to seek another option.  As 
the current President of the CICP has often told us, the fight 
against piracy in Brazil remains a question of resources.  The 
CICP has not received sufficient funds, let alone high-level 
support, to fulfill its mandate, and a new national plan will 
face the same obstacle.  Despite the dedication of a few in the 
executive and legislative branches, it is still not clear where 
anti-piracy efforts will fall on the long list of competing GoB 
priorities.  If the attention the CPI report receives propels 
the issue further up the list, this alone would be a major 
victory. 
 
CPI Members 
----------- 
 
¶23.  The Piracy CPI members and executive body include the 
following Congressional representatives: 
 
President:  Antonio Luis Medeiros,  PL/SP 
First Vice President:  Julio Lopes, PP/RJ 
Second Vice President: Vanessa Grazziotin, PcdoB/AM 
Third Vice President:  Julio Semeghini, PSDB/SP 
Rapporteur:  Josias Quintal, PMDB/RJ 
 
Devanir Ribeiro, PT/SP 
Rubinelli, PT/SP 
Wasney De Roure, PT/DF 
Laura Carneiro, PFL/RJ 
Marcos Abramo, PFL/SP 
Robson Tuma, PFL/SP 
Olavo Calheiros, PMDB/AL 
Carlos Alberto Lereia, PSDB/GO 
Julio Redecker, PSDB/RS 
Sandes Junior, PP/GO 
Alex Canziani, PTB/PR 
Ronaldo Vasconsellos, PTB/MG 
Mauricio Rabelo, PL/TO 
Dr. Ribamar Alves, PSB/MA 
Lupercio Ramos, PPS/AM 
Dr. Rodolfo Pereira, PDT/RR 
Sarney Filho, PV/MA 
DUDDY