By Kerri-Anne Mesner
A DVD pirating operation in the western suburbs that has been busted three times in four months has revealed copies of the television series Underbelly, which has been banned in Victoria.
Victorian police, assisted by investigators from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), last Tuesday raided a commercial premises in Sunshine North and shut down a movie piracy operation, seizing 70 burners capable of producing 1.7 million DVDs with a street value of more than $7 million a year.
Earlier that day, police raided a home in St Albans that had been raided on two other occasions in the past four months.
A 41-year-old St Albans resident faces charges over the seizures, believed to be Australia’s biggest, totalling 607,000 DVDs.
The recent raid uncovered copies of There Will Be Blood and Jumper, which are still showing in Australian cinemas and not yet legitimately available on DVD.
The haul also included copies of episodes 1-9 of Underbelly, which is banned from being screened in Victoria following a decision by the Victorian Supreme Court.
AFACT’s director of operations, Neil Gane, said that within weeks of being raided by police the operation had been relocated to new premises.
Maximum penalties for copyright offences are a $60,500 fine and five years imprisonment per offence.
Members of the community can report movie piracy to AFACT’s anti-piracy hotline, 1800 251 996.
