The director-general of the Intellectual Property Department is cracking down on the practice of promoting counterfeit goods online, particularly via Facebook Live. The department had asked Facebook’s head office in Singapore to help provide information on its users who had breached intellectual property-right laws.
The department would ask for copyright owners to report breaches to the government so fake-goods traders using online websites or Facebook Live can be punished for breaching intellectual property right laws including |the Copyright and Trademark acts.
It appears that the most popular counterfeit goods traded online are brand-name bags, wallets, watches, and sunglasses, as well as movies and music.
The government team involved in the crackdown is poised to take legal action in three cases for the alleged trading of fake goods via Facebook Live, two of which are in Bangkok and one in Chonburi province.
In orderto proceed in the cases, the department has asked for cooperation from cyber police to investigate the IP address of the fake-goods traders and retrieve information about their bank accounts.
The department also requires court permission to investigate the alleged violators and seize the illegal goods.
Under the recently amended Computer Crime Act of the Digital Economy Ministry, the government will soon have a right to close down websites and Facebook accounts |trading counterfeit goods.
(Source: The Nation, Thailand)