European Union Project
„Support to Enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights”
in the Republic of Moldova

The EU Project has developed a national awareness campaign to highlight the risks of copyright theft

"Online piracy is dangerous" - is the message of a national awareness campaign targeting young people, which was launched by the EU Project “Support to Enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights” in the Republic of Moldova and the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) on 18th September 2018.

The launch press conference was attended by the Team Leader of the EU Project, Mr. Maximilian Foedinger, and Mr. Andrei Popa, AGEPI Deputy Director General.

At the press conference, Mr. Maximilian Foedinger, stated that the campaign objective is to rise awareness about the risks of illegally using copyright material on the Internet, for both consumers and businesses, as well as to highlight where to find legal alternatives.

”Recently, in June 2018, the BSA Global Software Survey published a study showing that the Republic of Moldova has a computer piracy rate of 83%, while the world average is 40%. As Moldova does not have unlimited natural resources, like gold and oil, it depends on the intellectual capacity of its population to grow the economy. People create software, art, music and other intellectual property that can be converted into money”, Mr. Maximilian Foedinger declared.

He also affirmed that companies which create software and use unlicensed software suffer from piracy. Their financial damage amounts to billions of dollars at an international level, and the impact on the economy due to the failure to pay taxes is significant. Furthermore, online piracy has a destructive impact on creative industries. The music, movies and software creators are not motivated to work. Therefore, it is important to legally use digital content and support creators.

“That is why I want to point out that those who download illegal content are causing considerable damage to the economy and will gradually reduce the number of these creative products. Our message to Internet users is – “Do not take a risk. Don’t be a victim!”, Mr. Maximilian Foedinger stated.

The AGEPI Deputy Director, Mr. Andrei Popa, underlined that Moldovan internet users daily communicate on various social networks, make online payments and download music, movies and software. In this context, they are exposed to many security risks, such as the loss of personal data or money from bank accounts.

”To explain in an accessible way the risks of the online piracy phenomenon, we have prepared a series of multimedia tools including, video interviews with experts, a web page with comprehensive awareness materials on internet piracy and information on where to find legal alternatives, which will be promoted on social media”, Mr. Popa said.

In this context, mass media was invited to become partners in the fight against the phenomenon of online piracy and reflect the campaign in their informative grid. The campaign will be implemented from September until October 2018.

The EU Project ”Support to Enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights” in the Republic of Moldova is funded by the European Union and implemented by a Consortium of Archidata LLC (Italy), European Profiles S.C. (Greece) and Business and Strategies in Europe (Belgium). The project has a duration of two years and ends in November 2018.