AfterDawn: News

Australian police bust piracy ring

Australian Federal Police (AFP) has been commended by the anti-piracy organization for the Australian music industry, Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) for targeting an international music piracy ring. The music piracy ring, which had an operation sourced in Sydney, distributed pirates music internationally. An organized gang in Australia are alleged to have manufactured tens of thousands of re-mixed compilation albums and distributed them through a complex network throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

A total of eleven search warrants were executed in the raids, and one man was arrested. Among the locations raided are residential premises in Petersham and Canley Heights in Sydney, an optical disc manufacturing plant and a number of music retailers, supermarkets and other retail outlets that were selling pirate compilations featuring artists such as Justin Timberlake and UB40.



Enforcement action is also underway in New Zealand against an importer of the pirate product and a CD manufacturing plant with warning letters being sent to retailers that are stocking the pirate product.

Sabiene Heindl, General Manager of MIPI: "The actions of the Australian Federal Police reinforce their strong commitment to bringing intellectual property thieves to justice. These raids reinforce the undeniable links between piracy and criminal organizations in Australia. Attracted by the profitability of this illicit activity, criminal organizations based in Australia often control the actual manufacture and trade of pirated goods. This has ramifications not only for Australia, but also our neighbouring countries,"

Written by: James Delahunty @ 28 Apr 2008 19:24

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• 10 comments

• iluvendo

  I hate to say it, but this sounds like glory heaped on a previous photo op.

  28.4.2008 20:40 #1

• psplvanub

  to bad the mipi couldnt do it themselves

  29.4.2008 03:53 #2

• nobrainer

  Its a breath of fresh air to see tem actually targeting the real pirates instead of college students!
  
  

  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.
  

  29.4.2008 06:38 #3

• 7thsinger

  Agreed.
  
  At least this was going after real pirates.

  29.4.2008 11:31 #4

• DVDdoug

  Quote:Its a breath of fresh air to see tem actually targeting the real pirates instead of college students!
  To you there is a clear difference, but to the copyright owner, there is no difference. A P2P download and a physical CD sold for money are both unauthorized copies that represent lost potential sales.

  29.4.2008 17:46 #5

• nobrainer

  Quote:Quote:Its a breath of fresh air to see tem actually targeting the real pirates instead of college students!
  To you there is a clear difference, but to the copyright owner, there is no difference. A P2P download and a physical CD sold for money are both unauthorized copies that represent lost potential sales.is a pirate a loss of a sale, who said that he/she would have purchased the given item it in the first place, this is the rhetoric that the IFPI (riaa) use to calculate their data that has been found time and again to be grossly incorrect?
  
  where as pirate rings are stealing sales by flogging their goods to customers wishing to purchase a copy, maybe if the media industry wanted to stop this happening lowering prices would be a start but nothing will come between their profit margins as making $1 is not enough when they can rip everyone off for £10.
  
  

  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.
  

  30.4.2008 02:06 #6

• tripplite

  pooor little aussy's.....didn't see it coming:/

  1.5.2008 18:59 #7

• pensfan12

  Lol the mipi, they are a sccaaarrryyyy bunch!
  Originally posted by nobrainer: Its a breath of fresh air to see tem actually targeting the real pirates instead of college students!
  ive never heard of the MIPI touching australian internet users let alone university students but ok!!

  2.5.2008 10:30 #8

• nobrainer

  Quote:Lol the mipi, they are a sccaaarrryyyy bunch!
  Originally posted by nobrainer: Its a breath of fresh air to see tem actually targeting the real pirates instead of college students!
  ive never heard of the MIPI touching australian internet users let alone university students but ok!!sry i was referring to the USA branch the RIAA (riaa, mpaa, bpi, ifpi mipi, ect all the same companies behind the trade groups) with their blanket law suits, the rest of the world isn't as easy to push about as the US gov, because of all the lobbyists backhanders to congress members from big media.
  
  

  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.
  

  2.5.2008 10:56 #9

• wetsparks

  It's not buying off congress that is the problem, it is buying off key members of congress that have been around for 20 years that then come up to the guys who haven't been there for that long and say, do this for me or your bill won't even be mentioned, let alone voted on. And it is good to see that the people who are trying to make money off of this are getting hit and not everyone else.

  2.5.2008 16:59 #10