James Delahunty
13 Sep 2007 9:44
Acting on a complaint made by Dutch anti-piracy foundation BREIN, Dutch police officers have raided and dismantled a plant used for the production of pirated discs. BREIN was informed of the activity at the premises by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which has been monitoring activity at the clandestine plant for a while now. The plant had the capacity to output 900 discs per hour.
Among the movies being produced were Die Hard 4.0, Ocean's Thirteen, Evan Almighty and Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer. The IFPI has determined that the equipment in use came from a manufacturing plant that had previously been declared bankrupt. Officers also discovered discs which formed part of an order for thousands of pirate CDs featuring a compilation of chart music.
The pirate discs did not make their way into legitimate distribution channels, which often does occur. Instead they were sold by individuals in schools, workplaces, bars or on the street. BREIN estimates that such organized piracy accounts for an estimated 10 per cent of the Netherlands' physical piracy problem. The investigation is ongoing.
"This action shows that piracy of physical CDs and DVDs is still an illegal and profitable business in the Netherlands and a big problem for film and music producers even if internet piracy gets more headlines. We remain very vigilant against disc pirate operators and we will make sure they are prosecuted and punished for their illegal activities. We compliment the officers of FIOD-ECD who investigated this case," said Tim Kuik, the Director of BREIN.
"This raid shows that in 2007 physical piracy continues to damage the entertainment industries. Here we have a clandestine factory operating in a major western economy, producing huge volumes of product. This is not a petty crime, this is serious organized crime and it is important that the public understands that when they buy pirate product they are sending cash to organized criminals who are almost certainly involved in other areas of serious criminal activity," said John Kennedy, Chairman and CEO of IFPI.
Source:
Press Release