Every day, vendors of pirated movie and music discs sell their goods under rows of trees along a street in downtown Manila, just a few metres away from a police station and the Department of Justice office.

The discs are displayed on wooden tables that can be dismantled in case of rain or raids by anti-piracy agents, which vendors often find out about in advance.

Business is brisk, with tourists, students and employees of both private and government offices buying the bootlegged products throughout the day.

"That’s already a DVD copy," the vendor told a regular customer, assuring him that the counterfeit version is as good as the original copy of the Academy Awards’ Best Picture winner, No Country for Old Men, which he was selling for just $1.20.

The customer buys not just one but five DVDs, including one that has nine titles on it. The films include top Hollywood films that are not even showing in The Philippines.

"It’s a great deal," the buyer said, with a big smile. "My family will enjoy these. We don’t go to cinemas anymore because they are too expensive."

Copyright piracy has remained a serious problem in The Philippines despite the country’s removal from the U.S. Trade Representative’s priority watchlist of countries failing to protect intellectual property rights in 2006.

The Washington-based International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) lamented that piracy got worse in The Philippines in 2007.

"The copyright piracy situation on the ground has gradually gotten worse," the group said in a report to the U.S. trade representatives.

At least $212.3 million in revenues were lost in 2007 due to the bootlegging of books, business software, music, motion pictures and entertainment software in The Philippines, up 25 per cent from the previous year, the IIPA report said.

It noted that while there was a marked increase in raids and seizures of pirated and fake products in 2006, progress waned in 2007.

"Real enforcement problems continue to plague right holders," the group said. "There remains a paucity of criminal actions against large-scale producers and distributors, who remain largely untouched.

"Further, irregularities like compromises in raids and leaks make deterrent enforcement impossible to achieve."

The IIPA said The Philippines is now a net importer of pirated discs, mainly from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia.