MUMBAI: The Government Information Office (GIO) and Taipei customs, with the support of the Taiwan Foundation Against Copyright Theft (TFACT), representing the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in Taiwan, have launched measures to deter the influx of pirated DVDs from China especially during the Lunar New Year when many Taiwanese return from vacation.

These measures include slides screened on airplanes to warn passengers that carrying illegal pirated DVDs into Taiwan is a criminal act, billboards in the hallways to remind passengers that carrying such DVDs is an offence as well as the introduction of new drop-boxes at the arrival gates of every airport and harbour designed to allow passengers to discard their pirated discs.

"We fully support the Taiwanese authorities initiative to alert passengers that the very act of carrying pirated DVDs into Taiwan is a crime. It may seem innocuous to many people who buy such disc on holiday but it has an adverse impact to the creative communities both in Taiwan and internationally," said Motion Picture Association (MPA) Asia Pacific president and managing director Mike Ellis .

"With the slides on the airplane and signage in the hallways, we are alerting passengers that carrying pirated DVDs is an offense and then with the drop-boxes, we give them a chance to do the right thing. We hope that all passengers travelling during the Lunar New Year holidays keep this in mind. Ideally of course, passengers would have nothing to throw away as they would have refrained from buying such products while on their travels," said DG Wang from TIPO.

"We are glad to be partners of the Government in this initiative, which is very timely. Millions pass through the airport gates and use our flights and we are happy to help remind them that bringing in pirated DVDs is a crime," TransAsia Airways manager Chen Wen-Lin.

"I’m sure my colleagues in the film and other creative industries are very happy with this latest initiative by the Taiwanese customs and airport authorities to warn people that we take creativity and its infringement very seriously in Taiwan," said Taiwanese actor Michael Chang. "We are also sure that the Taiwanese people will do the right thing in supporting us and not bring in pirated DVDs."