Taiwan's IPR Police, in collaboration with the Taiwan Foundation Against Copyrights Theft (TFACT), representing the Motion Picture Association (MPA), raided a pirated DVD rental shop in Kaoshiung City. This action took down the largest known burner operation in the city, Taiwan's second biggest city after Taipei.

A total of 46 DVD-R burners were found in the shop premises. Police also seized 4,001 pirated optical discs with titles such as Evan Almighty, Rush Hour 3 and Transformers. The seized burners are capable of producing as many as 2,484,000 DVD-Rs in one year, yielding potential revenues of $10,393,618.

"In taking out this illegal burner operation, the Taiwan police have raised the cost of doing business for these criminals. They have also prevented millions of pirated DVD-Rs from hitting the streets, saving the livelihoods of people who work in movie industry," said Mike Ellis, senior VP and regional director, Asia-Pacific for the MPA.

TFACT executive director Spencer Yang praised the IPR Police saying, "The raid came during the night that Taiwan was lashed by Typhoon Wipha. This reflects the resolution of the police and underscores the effectiveness of their cooperation with TFACT in the battle against the pirates."

Story filed 30.09.07