Bigger than drugs

The explosion in pirate movie sales in the province is costing jobs on the ground, in the distribution and retail sectors of the industry, while fat cat gangsters are living it up on the massive illegal profits.

The past two years have seen such a massive increase in bootleg DVDs on sale across Ireland, that the film industry, PSNI and Customs have invested extra resources to crackdown on it.

In the first six months of this year alone, the PSNI seized more than twice as many pirate DVDs than they netted in the whole of last year.

In the year 2003/2004, PSNI, HM Customs & Excise and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) seized a total of 40,000 pirate DVDs, videos and VCDs in Northern Ireland, with an estimated value of £1.8m.

Bigger profits and less risk is the reason why terrorists in Ulster are turning to fake movies rather than cocaine or esctasy, according to a top cop.

Detective Colin Cushley, of the PSNI's Intellectual Property Crime Unit said: "We know that all of the paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland are heavily involved in organised crime, both as a means of raising finance for their organisations and for personal gain.

"We work closely with Customs and Excise, the film industry and the Garda Siochana, as this is very much a cross-border problem.

"The profits are massive, far exceeding any made in the drugs trade.

"A comparison is that 1kg of cocaine, which costs £30,000 to buy, will sell on the street for £60,000, hence a 100pc profit.

"A pirate DVD can cost as little as 50p to produce, and selling one for £5 makes a 1000pc profit.

"The latest DVDs cost pennies to produce, and can sell from £5 plus each. Thousands of copies can be produced in minutes."

The bootleg DVD industry is now a global problem, and is estimated to be worth a staggering £750m in Britain alone, with the distribution as sophisticated as any legimate multi-national company.

As 90pc of pirate movies are filmed from the back of cinemas, security measures are currently being taken in movie houses all over Northern Ireland to prevent it.

New releases like War of the Worlds, Madagascar and Mr and Mrs Smith are already widely available in the province.

Former officer in the Organised Crime Branch of the PSNI, Raymond Leinster is now director general of FACT - the Federation of Copyright Theft.

He said: "It doesn't just harm the film and DVD industry, but has helped fund paedophile rings, drug and gun dealing and human trafficking.

"If we are carrying out surveillance or raids on DVD pirates, we nearly always discover that these criminals are involved in a multitude of other illegal and unsavoury acitivities, of which the sale of DVDs is merely the most public."

The Organised Crime Task Force teamed up with the Industry Trust for Intellectual Property Awareness last year to launch a campaign highlighting the links between DVD piracy and organised crime in Northern Ireland.

The campaign was themed 'Revealing the True Face of Piracy' and has since been rolled out across the UK.

Northern Ireland Office Minister Ian Pearson said: "Paramilitary gangs carry out 80pc of the intellectual property crime in Northern Ireland, which serves to emphasise the sinister nature of this particular form of criminality.

"I would challenge everyone to think where their money is going before purchasing a pirated DVD - they are lining the pockets of organised criminals, the vast majority of whom have links to paramilitary organisations."

Source: Sunday Life