Piracy booming through Internet
5th September 2006 (New Starits Times)

PUTRAJAYA: Nearly 100 parcels containing pirated DVDs, to be sent overseas by registered post, were seized recently at the post office at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport - a sign that the Internet has become the new sales medium for pirates.

The seizure of 98 parcels, containing between one and five discs each of the latest movie titles, was made at the KLIA on Aug 30, according to Domestic Trade and Consu- mer Affairs director-general Roslan Mayahudin.

"This is clearly related to Internet-based piracy, whereby buyers from overseas place their orders through websites operated in Malaysia," he told the New Straits Times yesterday.

He said this was the ministry's largest seizure of pirated discs due for delivery by post.

The ministry has placed enforcement officers and scanners at the KLIA post office to check for pirated discs.

Roslan said the parcels seized were destined for addresses in Europe, South Afri- ca and the United States.

"We are not sure if they are just individual buyers or pirates seeking copies from Malaysia as the quality of discs pirated here is better than other sources."

He said there were licensed factories involved in replicating the movies.

At present, there are 42 such factories in Malaysia.

"There's no way the pirates can burn so many copies and expect good quality, so sometimes they rope in legal factories to make pirated discs."

The ministry is investigating 10 factories, of which seven are licensed ones.

The online sale of pirated discs started about six years ago, but the trend is becoming rampant as enforcement officers crack down on street pedlars and stalls in shopping centres.

In June, the ministry formed a special unit to tackle Internet piracy.

According to Motion Picture Association (MPA) country manager Nor Hayati Yahaya, pirated discs were also sent through courier and regular mail.

"We hope that the enforcement officers also check the other postal services," she said, adding that the majority of websites selling pirated discs were operating in Malaysia.

The MPA is a trade organisation for the film industry and its members comprise major Hollywood studios.

The ministry and MPA have so far conducted eight raids against Internet piracy this year, resulting in the shutdown of between 30 and 40 websites.

The MPA also has a list of what it calls the "top most wanted websites" - sites that have the highest traffic and generate the most sales.

Malaysia is suspected of hosting about 10 per cent or 10 of these sites, which are being investigated by the MPA