Malaysian law enforcement officials accompanied by Motion Picture Assn. representatives raided a suspected pirate optical disc production factory yesterday (Jan. 25) in Johor Bahru, seizing four DVD/VCD factory production lines capable of manufacturing more than 14 million discs in a single year. Eight people were arrested.
This work by the Malaysian Royal Police and Ministry of Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) officers follows the MPA’s launch Jan. 17 of a reward program designed to encourage individuals to support such efforts. The program provides cash rewards for people who provide information that leads to the successful seizure of DVD production lines involved in the illegal manufacture of MPA member company titles. It runs for two months and will award $10,000 for information leading to the seizure of a single DVD production line and $20,000 for two or more production lines.
Since offering the rewards, Malaysian officials have seized 13 DVD/VCD factory production lines and 384 optical disc burners capable of manufacturing more than 81 million pirated optical discs in one year.
During the 20-minute raid in Johor Bahru — when the raiding team was required to break into the factory — workers destroyed thousands of piracted optical discs but were unable to destroy all evidence of the illegal activity, the MPA reports.
On Jan. 17, raids on four suspected Malaysian production facilities in Selangor and Penang resulted in the arrests of 26 people and the seizure of nine DVD/VCD production lines and 384 disc burners.
“The raids conducted by the MDTCA over the past week, and the tremendous seizures that have resulted, are sending a powerful message to the criminals who damage Malaysia’s creative industries and investment climate,” said Mike Ellis, MPA’s senior VP/regional director Asia-Pacific. “The MDTCA is showing tremendous leadership in addressing Malaysia’s piracy problems at source.”
