THE Optical Media Board (OMB) has again won plaudits from an agency of the US government for its campaign against intellectual property piracy.

This was gathered from the Special 301 Report released recently by the US Trade Representative, which cited the progress that has been made in the Philippines “toward implementing controls on optical media production.”

The report contains a review of the performance of several countries in the worldwide fight against piracy and counterfeiting. In the Philippines, the enforcement of laws against the production, sale and distribution of optical media products containing pirated movies, music and songs, games and software is vested primarily on the OMB, headed by chairman Eduardo “Edu” Manzano, who is the board’s concurrent chief executive officer.

The OMB is a member agency of the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights which is tasked to combat counterfeiting and piracy in the country. It is assisted by the National Police and other law enforcement agencies in its operation against illegal manufacturers and traders of pirated compact discs (CDs), video compact discs and digital video discs and similar materials.

Manzano reported that in 2007, the OMB conducted 2,526 operations and seized more than 4.8 million pirated optical discs valued at P1.12 billion. Of the 573 raids made by law enforcement agencies, 443 or more than 77 percent, were conducted by the OMB. It also filed 22 criminal charges and 2,500 administrative complaints, nine of them involving illegal possession of CD replicating facilities.

The Philippines is one of only seven countries cited in the report as having improved their optical media enforcement. The others are Malaysia, Pakistan, and Indonesia, in Asia; Brazil, in South America; Nigeria, in Africa; and Ukraine, in Europe.

Customs functions reorganized

PRESIDENT Arroyo has reorganized certain functions of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) “to make it more responsive” to the government’s antismuggling campaign.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Police and military officials are eyeing the possible involvement of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Thursday’s bombing that killed two people and injured 21 others.

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza on Sunday called on some 100 farmers from Calatagan, Batangas, not to camp out in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resource’s (DENR) central office on Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, saying camping out in front of the office “is not the solution to their problem.”

CRACKING the whip on erring policemen, the National Police chief, Director General Avelino Razon Jr., dismissed 52 personnel from the service for various offenses during the past four months.

THE National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has asked Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to look into the plight of radio broadcaster Alexander Adonis, who has remained in jail for libel despite a court order mandating his release.

THE House of Representatives has forwarded to the Senate an approved bill that would upgrade the capabilities of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (Bfad) to ensure public health and safety with respect to food, cosmetics and drugs marketed in the Philippines.

THE Optical Media Board (OMB) has again won plaudits from an agency of the US government for its campaign against intellectual property piracy.