Which is the scope of counterfeiting and piracy?

The illegal nature of piracy and counterfeiting means they are clandestine businesses and thus are hard to statistically quantify. However, information provided by right holders and customs authorities can make estimates possible. Such information is available on the websites of many customs authorities and NGOs. They all show an alarming increase in these activities, and an escalating harm to national economies. On a global scale, piracy and counterfeiting activities are estimated to represent between 5 and 7% of world trade.

Many experts predict the problems of piracy and counterfeiting will become worse as the pace of globalization quickens. Advances in new technologies allow almost exact reproductions of original products, and the internationalization of economies and the worldwide demands for certain products and brands also results in a globalization of fake products. Counterfeit goods are making their way from cheap, low and easily discernible imitations of luxury goods, sold on the streets, to meticulously designed reproductions, which are sold as original, with high profit, to often unsuspecting consumers. Modern communication technologies make copying and storage of copyright protected content more and more effective, which gives rise to further concerns of increases in content piracy.