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Taiwan Quick Take

■ TRANSPORTATION
Buses may soon use tunnel
Passenger buses are expected to gain access to Hsuehshan Tunnel, the centerpiece of the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway linking Taipei and Ilan counties, from the middle of next month, following Thursday's successful fire drill in the tunnel. A National Freeway Bureau official said the drill was aimed at ensuring that people would be able to escape smoothly and that proper air ventilation would be maintained amid heavy smoke if a fire were triggered by a bus crash in the 12.9km tunnel. The bureau will submit the drill reports to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications this week for further evaluation, the official said. If all goes well, tour buses will be allowed to use the tunnel starting Nov. 15.

■ CRIME
Pirated DVDs seized
Police have seized more than 45,000 pirated DVDs in two separate raids on illegal factories in Taiwan, a US motion picture group said. Police also seized 58 CD burners used to make the pirated copies during the raids in central and southern Taiwan this week, the Los Angeles-based Motion Picture Association (MPA)said in an e-mail statement received yesterday. Five suspects were arrested in one of the raids in Taichung and could face copyright infringement charges that carry up to a five-year jail term, the statement said. The second raid was said to be in Kaohsiung. Taiwanese police in charge of combating copyright fraud could not be reached for comment yesterday. The statement said US studios owned by MPA members lost US$6.1 billion in revenue in 2005 global due mainly to illegal copying and Internet piracy. Of the losses, about US$1.2 billion came from piracy across the Asia-Pacific region, it said.


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