| Latest News / Archive - March 2007
2nd March 2007
DEPTFORD PIRATE DVD FACTORY RAIDED
A joint operation between Lewisham Trading Standards, Met Police, FACT, IFPI and BPI has led to the successful raid of a residential premises in Deptford and the arrest of eight suspects.
The raid took place mid-morning on Thursday, 22 February 2007, following suspicions that counterfeit DVDs and music CDs were being manufactured and distributed from the premises. The operation resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of equipment and materials:
• 22 DVD burners used for multiple DVD and CD copying
• commercial colour printers connected to commercial printing ink reservoirs
• 7,000 completed discs in bags and stored ready for collection and supply
• 10,000 blank DVD and CD discs ready for burning
• 10,000 sleeves and many thousands of sheets of laser copier paper
A quantity of unclassified obscene bestiality titles were also removed together with 3,000 cigarettes that were not labelled with statutory health warnings.
Councillor Susan Wise, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, said: “Enquiries are still continuing but there can be no doubt this is a significant seizure.Counterfeiting is known to have links to organised crime. Anyone thinking of purchasing counterfeit products should also be cautious. DVDs can be of poor quality and, by and large, the source is recorded from a cinema screen using a video camera.”
Kieron Sharp, Director General of FACT, said: “Counterfeiting is detrimental to the profitability and viability of everyone involved in the film industry, including those small businesses selling and hiring out the genuine product.
FACT continues to work with local agencies to help deal with this problem that brings crime to local communities.
The public should note that this is a crime that is controlled at the top level by serious and organised crime.”
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7th March 2007
EBAY PARTNERS WITH FACT TO CLAMP DOWN ON PIRATED DVD SALES
eBay.co.uk and The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), have today launched a campaign to educate consumers on how to buy and sell DVDs safely on eBay.
eBay and FACT want to remind eBay sellers that listing pirated DVDs is illegal and ensure that buyers know they are bidding on legitimate products from reputable sellers.
The campaign includes a buying and selling guide which is now available on eBay.co.uk. The guide is written by FACT, the audio-visual industry’s trade organisation dedicated to fighting piracy. The guide warns eBay users of the dangers of – and penalties for – selling pirated DVDs, which include up to ten years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine, and provides buyers with specific advice on how to avoid buying a pirated DVD: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/buy/guides/dvd-fact-buying-guide/
FACT works closely with law enforcement agencies and eBay to combat the growth of piracy on the Internet. Working together, a joint FACT and eBay investigation ultimately led to the recent arrest of a seller from Bradford, who received a prison sentence and was hit with a £55,000 confiscation order. Cases such as this show how effective collaboration can be.
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13th March 2007
EBAY COUNTERFEIT TRADER ARRESTED IN EAST LONDON
An eBay trader who was selling large quantities of pirate DVDs and making several thousand pounds per month has been arrested following extensive work by FACT’s Internet Investigations Team.
In a combined raid with the Metropolitan Police (Newham Borough) and Newham Council Trading Standards, a 22 year old man was arrested at an address in Trinity Gardens, Canning Town, London E16 and has been taken away for questioning.
PC equipment found on the premises has been seized, along with several hundred discs ready to be shipped to potential buyers. These included counterfeit copies of TV and film titles such as The Sopranos, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, The Little Mermaid and 24.
Also seized were quantities of counterfeit clothing, shoes, jewellery and iPods for sale online. All these items will be examined by Newham Trading Standards.
Kieron Sharp, Director General of FACT, said: “Whilst we are working more closely with sites such as eBay to enforce our members’ copyrights, there are still those who persist in listing counterfeit DVDs for criminal gain.
We will continue to actively pursue such illegal traders who are openly flouting the law.”
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