Hefty fine for woman selling pirate CDs and tapes

A 52-YEAR-old woman from Lythrodontas was yesterday fined £3,000 by a Nicosia court after admitting to charges of trading 410 pirate CDs and videotapes in her shop.
The woman cried as her defence lawyer pleaded with Judge Angelos David to hand out a lenient punishment because of the many personal problems she has been through.

“She was born in a family that included 11 brothers and sisters, and being the eldest child was forced to support her brothers and sisters because her father had been an alcoholic. She later married, got divorced and married again to her present husband who owns a kazanti stall.

“She has five children one of which was sadly killed in a road accident recently, while the other two are divorced and living with her. She also has to support her brother, who has only recently kicked his drug addiction habit and is working in her store.”

After taking a few seconds to think, Judge David gave his decision.

“The problem of piracy on the island is very apparent not just to us Cypriots but to the international community as well. Piracy is a huge money making crime and cannot be tolerated. In fact, legislation protecting copyright violation had intensified recently and the court has no choice but to take this offence very seriously. A fine like this usually sees a £1,500 penalty for each of the pirated items seized. But how can I possibly hand out a penalty of £615,000 to the accused?

“The court has taken into consideration the many unfortunate problems surrounding the accused but cannot accept the excuse that she couldn’t tell the difference between original and fake CDs and videotapes. It is therefore the court’s decision that the accused pay £3,000 as well as sign a £2,000 guarantee that she would have to pay should she break the law again in the next two years.”