OSCE Mission to Skopje supports community and police initiative to protect intellectual property rights
(OSCE/Maria Dotsenko)Pirated DVDs on sale in Skopje, 22 January 2008. (OSCE/Maria Dotsenko) Photo details
SKOPJE, 23 January 2008 - The OSCE Mission helped organize a meeting of the Citizen Advisory Group (CAG) in Tetovo today to discuss ways to increase the respect of intellectual property rights.
The local police and representatives of the local NGO EU Culture Group, which works with music producers and retailers, came up with the initiative to raise the awareness of the importance to prevent violations of the intellectual property right legislation and to fight piracy.
"This is the first OSCE-facilitated Citizen Advisory Group meeting on protecting copyright. The Groups are efficient tools in our day-to-day work on community policing. We use this mechanism to send a message to the public and to raise awareness of the importance of ensuring respect for intellectual property rights," said Marius Nichita, Senior Community Policing Adviser of the OSCE Tetovo Field Station.
Dragoljub Stojanovski, Deputy Head of the Tetovo Police Station, said: "The Interior Ministry is grateful for the OSCE support. Such meetings bring together all parties involved and can help find a solution to the problem. Citizens have to respect the law and the work of artists, singers and IT companies, and buy only licensed copies of their works. The police will enforce legal measures to stop the sales of pirated CDs, DVDs, audio and video tapes, computer games and programmes."
Citizen Advisory Group can facilitate dialogue and co-operation between citizens and the police and help make policing more efficient. The OSCE Mission to Skopje, together with the Interior Ministry, introduced the concept of community policing in the north-west of the country in 2002, while the first CAGs were set up in the east in May 2005. There are now more than 130 CAGs functioning all over the country.
The local police and representatives of the local NGO EU Culture Group, which works with music producers and retailers, came up with the initiative to raise the awareness of the importance to prevent violations of the intellectual property right legislation and to fight piracy.
"This is the first OSCE-facilitated Citizen Advisory Group meeting on protecting copyright. The Groups are efficient tools in our day-to-day work on community policing. We use this mechanism to send a message to the public and to raise awareness of the importance of ensuring respect for intellectual property rights," said Marius Nichita, Senior Community Policing Adviser of the OSCE Tetovo Field Station.
Dragoljub Stojanovski, Deputy Head of the Tetovo Police Station, said: "The Interior Ministry is grateful for the OSCE support. Such meetings bring together all parties involved and can help find a solution to the problem. Citizens have to respect the law and the work of artists, singers and IT companies, and buy only licensed copies of their works. The police will enforce legal measures to stop the sales of pirated CDs, DVDs, audio and video tapes, computer games and programmes."
Citizen Advisory Group can facilitate dialogue and co-operation between citizens and the police and help make policing more efficient. The OSCE Mission to Skopje, together with the Interior Ministry, introduced the concept of community policing in the north-west of the country in 2002, while the first CAGs were set up in the east in May 2005. There are now more than 130 CAGs functioning all over the country.