Alleged Wolverine pirate arrested

Suzanne Tindal | Apr 27, 2009

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Credit: 20th Century Fox)

NSW police have arrested a 38-year-old woman for allegedly burning and selling pirated DVDs, including new film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, according to a music industry group.

Australian industry body Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) said that the police stopped the woman outside a pub in Wetherill Park on Friday after receiving information that she was selling pirated films and music in pubs in Sydney's western suburbs. More than 600 suspected pirated films and albums were found in a nearby car.

The woman's arrest and the discovery of the discs led police to what was allegedly a disc burner lab in Sydney's Westmead. The lab allegedly had the potential to produce 378,000 pirated discs a year, worth A$1.8 million (US$1.28 million) on the street.

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) also helped with the investigation, which MIPI said involved weeks of covert surveillance and investigation.

AFACT's director of operations Neil Gane thanked the member of the public who had called attention to the racket and claimed Australian businesses suffered greatly from piracy.

"That pirated copies of X-Men Origins: Wolverine were discovered amongst the haul is especially disappointing. The film was made in Australia, employed over 1,000 Australians, engaged over 100 Australian companies and contributed over A$80 million (US$56.9 million) to the local economy. The flagrant sales of pirated copies of the film is a slap in the face to the hard work and creativity that so many Australians put into the movie," he alleged in a statement. The film has not yet been shown in cinemas worldwide.

AFACT is also currently in a court stoush with iiNet. It claims that iiNet allowed its users to use its Internet service to illegally download and upload pirated films.

Via CNET.com.au

Filed under: Home AV
Leave a comment | Bookmark | Share