News

Clampdown on DVD pirates

By WANDEKA GAYLE, Staff Reporter

POLICE ARE ONCE again clamping down on piracy of hundreds of copyrighted music, but authorities say that illegal copies of the latest DVDs have recently flooded the black market by the thousands.

Since November 2004 more than 600 illegal CDs and DVD have been seized by the authorities at the City Centre Police Station. In four instances alone, another 600 DVDs were seized in two instances by the intellectual property arm of the force and 950 CDs in other cases, THE WEEKEND STAR understands.

On Tuesday, two persons appeared before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's court for breaches of the Copyright Act and the Customs Act.

Joy Johnson of North Street and Bruce Cole of a Kingston address were arrested on Thursday after police raided their stalls in the downtown area and confiscated 69 DVDs and fire crackers.

Johnson pleaded guilty and was fined $150,000 or six months hard labour, while Cole, who pleaded not guilty, will return to court in April 21.

Last year Richard Brown, 46, of Gregory Park, St. Catherine, and Richard Small, 26, of Mannings Hill District in Stony Hill, St. Andrew, were also charged with breaches of the Copyright Act.

Police report that between November 26 and 27, they conducted a sting operation in the Half Way Tree, St. Andrew. Police searched Brown's stall, situated at the shell station on Eastwood Park Road and confiscated 500 CDs and DVDs. Small was held along Constant Spring Road with more than 200 CDs and DVDs. Both received a $100,000 fine or two years imprisonment along with a nine month imprisonment sentence suspended for two years. Two others, caught with 200 and 50 CDs respectively were held in downtown in a similar operation but maintained their innocence and are still before the court.

Detective Inspector Winston Lindo of the Organised Crime Division, told THE WEEKEND STAR that earlier this month two others perpetrators were prosecuted.

"Three weeks ago, 600 DVDs were seized from the Cross Roads arcades and two individuals were arrested," Detective Inspector Lindo said.

Detective Corporal Kirk Roache of the City Centre Police reports that the police are aware that movies, which have not hit the shelves of local video stores are available at make-shift wooden stalls at the hot spots in downtown Kingston, Cross Roads and Half Way Tree. However, it was recently discovered that even legitimate businesses peddle the "bandooloo" DVDs.

"Before you would have a little man walking around selling the burnt CDs and DVDs from a bag but now you see them have large stalls," Roache said. "They have movies like Diary of a Mad Black Woman and the Grudge which has not reached the local stores yet and they are also selling a lot of pornography."

The hot spots, he said, are Parade, Barry Street, Church Street and St. William Grant Park in downtown Kingston and the general Half Way Tree area.

Why is this such a booming business? Roache said that the prices for the copies are fat less than half the price for the original DVDs.

"They will be selling them for between $300 and $500 when the original price would be between $1,400 and $1,900," he said.

Lindo added that with the constant crime waves hitting the Corporate Area the masses prefer to watch their DVD movies at home, several times the same ones showing at movie theatres.

A story carried in THE STAR on October 17, 2004, highlighted the efforts of the authorities to wipe out the piracy that ravages our country.

The police destroyed more than 4,000 CDs, 700 audio cassettes, 14 DVDs and nine VHS tapes by crushing them to prevent any possibility of them returning to the streets.

At that time approximately 70 persons were charged with breaches of the copyright act and faced up to $200,000 in fines or six months in prison for music piracy.

Lindo told THE WEEKEND STAR that while he is not able to disclose the secret weapon the force will use to stamp out other offenders, they are keeping their fingers on the pulse of this brand of criminal activity.

"We are aware of it and we are going to crack down on them," he said.