International Law

Chinese Pirates in Spanish Waters

Spanish Police Crack Down on CD/DVD Piracy Operation Involving Chinese Labor

Spanish police have disrupted an organized criminal syndicate based in Madrid that was producing counterfeit CDs and DVDs on an industrial scale. The group operated burners that could produce 150,000 CDs and DVDs each day, worth an estimated ?600,000 daily (US$ 920,577) or ?219 million annually (US$ 336 million). Police arrested 32 individuals, seized 466,000 blank discs and 306,500 recorded CDs and DVDs, 506 burners, and four delivery vehicles. Authorities also discovered that the gang was involved in human smuggling of Chinese as a labor source. The felons allegedly kept their network of salespeople in semi-human bondage.

(Source: IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) Press Release, June 5, 2008.)

[Editor's Note: The copy for this post originated in the June 13, 2008 issue of "China IPR News for U.S. Industry."]

Full post as published by Asia Business Intelligence on June 19, 2008 (boomark / email).