Police raided a Coffs Harbour premises yesterday and uncovered a DVD pirating operation alleged to be worth $750,000.

The raid resulted in police seizing two computers, five DVD burners and almost 2000 individual films and Sony PlayStation computer games, which allegedly were being used as manufacturing “masters”, along with 50 burned DVDs awaiting distribution.

Coffs Harbour police joined officers from the Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) and the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) to raid the Thompson Road house at around 10:30am.

It was alleged that the films and PlayStation games were being advertised in local newspapers.
Police interviewed a 43-year old man at the premises and investigations are continuing.

Adrianne Pecotic, executive director of the Australian Federation Against Copyright (AFAC), said in a statement: “Police are acting to stamp out the local trade in illegal DVDs. This crime inflicts serious losses on small legitimate businesses, especially in regional areas where video libraries and local cinemas are an integral part of the community.”

Nic Foster, regional director, finance and operations at Sony Computer Entertainment A/NZ, the manufacturer of PlayStation, said the police operation sends a strong message to potential pirates that they can no longer escape the law when they steal a company’s intellectual property.

“Based on growing knowledge of the operations of piracy rings, the collaborative efforts of industry bodies representing all sectors of entertainment products (film, games and music) and the full support of the Police, we are focusing our resources on eliminating this crime,” he said.