Germany: Officials confiscate 13.000 pirated disks at flea market

November 3, 2004

The German computer magazine Chip Online reported today that officials searched, found and confiscated about 13.000 pirated copies of music and movies, at a flea market in the German city Essen. Officials of the 'Mobile Control Group" Duisburg, the customs office Krefeld, the company ProMedia and the Corporation for persecution of copyright violation (GVU) arrested three Polish citizens.

The activities of the officials started shortly after the flea market was opened and a few thousand pirate copies were confiscated. In another action, two hours later, the officials found an additional 5000 pirated disks.

Two of the accused persons were already searched by the prosecuting authorities of Bochum, told the 'Corporation for Persecution of Copyright
Violation" (GVU). These two persons have to await considerable punishments
because of repeated actions. The law provides for actions against the
copyright imprisonments up to five years or fines.

After seven Germans were accused because of selling pirated copies over eBay, a few weeks ago, this is the next strike against this kind of real criminality in Germany. I can only say: Be careful when you buy your DVDs at flea markets or over eBay, they are or at least may be counterfeit.

The text above is a free translation and those of us who are interested and able to read the German language can read the full article over at Chip Online.

Source: Chip Online