First British raid on videogame pirate of 2009

The early January raid was conducted in Staffordshire and netted computers with burners and over a thousand illegally copied videogames - 700 Xbox 360 titles, 300 Wii titles and 100 PS2 titles.

In what has become a small-scale war, British police continue raids on massive videogame, DVD and CD pirating operations throughout the country.

In an intelligence-led operation involving Staffordshire Trading Standards and investigators from ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association), the home of a man was raided sometime the first week of January. Under-covers bought product from the pirate, and once forensically examined, the warrant was issued for the raid.

A week after the raid, a husband and wife team from Durham was convicted of pirating, this time DVDs and CDs. This marks the first successful prosecution of electronics pirating in 2009. This couple was also found out through joint-cooperation of intelligence, ELSPA, local police and a subsequent raid. The husband sentenced to one year in prison, his wife received an extra four months, for unspecified reasons.

Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA, has vowed to strike against techno-pirates, stating: "Our team in the Intellectual Property Crime Unit will step up its fight against counterfeiters and illegal chipping services in 2009. Such illegal activity can pose real health dangers for the public and certainly deprives gamers of any proper quality control. Furthermore, it can cause the industry to lose vital income and with it jobs across the UK."

Courtesy of Barrington Harvey PR

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