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Australian police carry out anti-piracy raid in Melbourne

3 April 2008 19:38 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 5 comments

Victoria Police raided a music retailer in Sydney Road, Brunswick in Melbourne earlier today, seizing thousands of allegedly pirate music CDs and DVDs. The successful raid by Victoria Police marks the launch of Operation Rein in the Rip Offs. Police searched the premises and removed five thousand discs openly on sale and extensive burning equipment that was housed in a back room.

This nationwide operation is being spearheaded by Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) and will target unscrupulous retailers across Australia who are blatantly selling pirate music discs and ripping off consumers, songwriters, artists and legitimate music retailers.

"This proactive raid by the Victorian Police signals the start of a national campaign by the Australian music industry to crack down on rogue traders that are damaging the music industry and ripping off consumers by selling pirate music. No matter where they are located, we will find
illegal traders that are selling pirate music and take appropriate enforcement action," Sabiene Heindl, General Manager of MIPI, said.

A 35 year old male is currently assisting Victorian Police with their inquiries in relation to today's raid. Criminal penalties for copyright infringement are up to $60,500 and 5 years imprisonment per offense for individuals, and up to $302,500 for corporations.

"Many Australian music retailers are small family run businesses that simply cannot compete with pirates that are selling inferior music product at lower prices. AMRA wholeheartedly supports actions by the Australian music
industry and law enforcement to hold these pirates accountable," Ian Harvey, Executive Director of the Australian Music Retailers Association (AMRA), said.

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Permalink to this article | Topic: MP3 & Digital Audio

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New York wants stricter punishments for film pirates (6 May 2008)

Australian police bust piracy ring (28 April 2008)

Australian country music pirate arrested (18 October 2007)

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Pirate website shut down, 2,000 DVDs seized (1 September 2007)

Pirate Croatian CDs seized in Melbourne (25 August 2007)

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DXR88 (Member) 3 April 2008 20:26
You fools open your eyes, its not the pirates that are ruining your bussiness its the corperate Pigs that are ruining your bussiness *Quote:* Many Australian music retailers are small family run businesses that simply cannot compete with pirates that are selling inferior music product at lower prices. this Sickens me to see this happen. We need to do something Now before its to late. [ + quote]
cousinkix (Newbie) 3 April 2008 22:21
You wanna bet the farm, that those duplicating machines were made by SONY? One of the biggest RIAA/MPAA mafia families is aiding the pirates who make bootleg CDs and DVDs using their own hardware and blank disks! Nice to know, that any rip-off artist can buy a machine, that makes 6 illegal copies of an album or a movie at one time. For sale at about $1500.00 USD on the internet, these burners will pay for themselves rather easily... [ + quote]
H0bbes (Junior Member) 4 April 2008 0:32
Sure, what the man was doing was illegal, but I think it's not the best way to prioritize the spending of any countries' taxpayers' money. Sure, it might recover 10 million dollars for the Media Mafia, 1 million for the artist, but what about the schools that need updated computers? The legitimately homeless guy that needs a boost to get a job? The kids with moms working two jobs to make a house payment because of a deadbeat dad? I know obviously that there's not a quick fix to anything, but there's better places to spend tax money where you can help improve the quality of life of hard working or screwed citizens that need it, rather than nail the guy who's probably going to do it again anyway. [ + quote]
B33rdrnkr (Newbie) 4 April 2008 1:23
Makes me think of a raid that happened about an hour away from here.. A few guys opened a store that sold only pirated sh1t, movies, mixtapes, copied cds, and they rented the stuff too, needless to say they weren't open that long..So much for discretion.. [ + quote]
nobrainer (Inactive) 4 April 2008 3:41
*Originally posted by cousinkix:* You wanna bet the farm, that those duplicating machines were made by SONY? One of the biggest RIAA/MPAA mafia families is aiding the pirates who make bootleg CDs and DVDs using their own hardware and blank disks! Nice to know, that any rip-off artist can buy a machine, that makes 6 illegal copies of an album or a movie at one time. For sale at about $1500.00 USD on the internet, these burners will pay for themselves rather easily... see the thing is that all manufacturers have to supply to demand and if sony/m$ only made a dvd rom while all other manufacturers made dvd burners it wouldn't take long for that company to fold because of selling a product that isn't viable in the market place. The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above! The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. How do you stop anti consumer = its easy purchase only second hand media and avoid their propertarian hobbled by DRM hardware! http://www.boycott-riaa.com/ [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 4 April 2008 3:42