CACN marks World Anti-Counterfeiting Day

RCMP and ROM Receive International Award

TORONTO, June 8 /CNW/ - The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN) today marks World Anti Counterfeiting Day by congratulating the RCMP and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) for receiving a prestigious award from the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GACG) in Paris today. The RCMP received one of six awards for "Public Body", marking its enforcement efforts against counterfeiting in Canada.

"The RCMP really deserves to be commended for their creativity in addressing counterfeiting and piracy in Canada given its outdated laws and insufficient criminal provisions," said Brian Isaac, Chair of CACN. "The RCMP has also been extremely active in public awareness campaigns, educational initiatives - including CACN's Reality Tour - and internationally with the Interpol Intellectual Property Crime Action Group," he added.

The ROM received a "Highly Commended Honour" from the GACG for developing and presenting the Fakes & Forgeries: Yesterday and Today exhibition, which highlights counterfeiting in artwork, artefacts and in every day consumer products. The exhibition was on display at the ROM from January 9 to April 4, 2010 and is currently touring museums across Canada

CACN also marks World Anti-Counterfeiting Day by officially launching a new online video entitled Buy the Real Thing! aimed at youth and shot during CACN's 2009 Reality Tour. The video can be accessed on CACN's Web site at: http://www.cacn.ca/.

Counterfeiting is a pressing public policy issue because it endangers people's lives, supports criminal and terrorist organizations and causes significant economic damage. There is no doubt that annual sales of counterfeit and pirated products in Canada are in the billions of dollars causing significant losses from the legitimate market to the black market and damage to rights holders and their employees, legitimate manufacturers, distributors and retailers of knocked off products, consumers and government (including through significant loss of tax revenue).

"From fake purses to fake electrical appliances, counterfeiting is a problem that governments and consumers should take to heart," says Isaac. "We all have a stake in ensuring that the organized criminals behind fakes like counterfeit children toys, fake pharmaceuticals, counterfeit auto and airplane parts and counterfeit DVDs and video games don't get away with fooling customers or worse, endangering lives."

The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN) is a coalition of individuals, companies, firms and associations that have united in the fight against product counterfeiting and copyright piracy in Canada and internationally. The originating members of CACN include broad-based organizations, such as the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), the Electro-Federation Canada, the Canadian Entertainment Software Association and the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association; companies from a range of industries; and law firms representing a host of intellectual property (IP) rights holders - Canadian and foreign - with significant businesses in Canada.

For further information:

Visit www.cacn.ca or contact:

• Julien Lavoie, CACN Public Relations at 416-620-7171 ext. 248 or [email protected]; or
• RCMP Media Relations at 613-993-2999; or
• Lauren Schneider, Publicist, ROM at 416-586-5547 or [email protected]