Police have arrested a Polish man alleged to have illegally made a Depeche Mode promo available to download ahead of its official release date.
The man is understood to have cracked a secure pre-release copy of the Uwe Flade-directed video for “Precious” and made it available through a Polish Web site. “Precious” is slated for an Oct. 3 release in Europe, and the following day in the United States.
An address in Kielce, Poland, was raided by police Wednesday (Aug. 17) following an operation led by the British alternative rock band’s record label Mute, its parent company EMI and industry groups the IFPI and Poland’s ZPAV. Two computers and a number of CD-Rs were confiscated during the raid.
“This action shows just how seriously the record companies view pre-release piracy,” comments Jeremy Banks, head of IFPI’s internet anti-piracy unit. “Pre-releases can be illegally posted, downloaded and distributed worldwide within hours.”
Depeche Mode’s forthcoming studio set “Playing the Angel” is set for an Oct. 17 release in Europe, and the following day in the United States. It will mark the act’s first album since 2001’s “Exciter,” which has shifted more than two million copies worldwide, according to Mute.
