Three men in Vietnam’s Quang Binh province have been arrested for pirated content they allegedly disseminated online, Torrent Freak is reporting. The allegations are related to three websites that reportedly brought in VND 80 to VND 100 million (US$3,300 to US$4,100) a month.
How significant is this raid? Probably not very–Raids on pirated content producers are common and reported every month or so and it’s a similar situation for stores selling counterfeit goods. These raids appear to be more for show than anything else to placate foreign stakeholders that are pushing for Vietnam to crack down on these practices.
Vietnam is well known as an epicentre for online pirated content. The country has become a permanent fixture on the US Trade Representatives Special 301 Report which assesses intellectual property protections and enforcement around the world.
Notably, the country has signed on to most international intellectual property protection agreements, however, this doesn’t appear to have done much with respect to tackling the problem.
At the end of the day, US$4,000 is more than Vietnam’s GDP per capita and more than most Vietnamese earn in a year. The point being, the money that can be made with pirated content, with relative ease, is very attractive and in the past when one pirated content site has been shut down another has quickly popped to take its place.
See also: Wolfoo-Peppa Pig intellectual property infringement saga continues