A South East London man has been convicted of conspiracy to defraud after he was found in possession of counterfeited goods including music CDs, film DVDs and games.
Neil Anthony Norton, 41, was sentenced to three years in jail at Blackfriars Crown Court Sept. 8, ending a three-year investigation by Lewisham Council and Bromley Police, with assistance from U.K. trade bodies BPI and Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT).
BPI and Lewisham Council report that Norton used his home in Bromley to make and store a large range of counterfeited goods, which were then disguised as genuine items and sold via eBay and his own Web site. It is estimated he made up to £850,000 ($1.49 million) in almost eight years of operation.
“Illegal downloading has created new challenges for the music business but physical commercial music piracy remains a huge problem,” said BPI Chief Executive, Geoff Taylor in a statement. “Successful multi-agency enforcement operations significantly disrupt and deter this criminal trade, and we can thank the outstanding continued efforts of the authorities for preventing the problem from spiralling out of control.
“But we must collectively discourage consumers from fuelling this area of crime. Few musicians are wealthy, and rely on the income from music sales and the investment record companies make in them to earn a living. Everyone deserves to be paid for their work.”
