Pretoria suburb home of movie pirates raided

The subsequent raid on a residential property in the Wonderboom area of Pretoria resulted in the seizure of over 2,000 DVD-r's containing pirated copies of recently released films, various pieces of computer hardware used to copy the films onto DVD-r's and print sleeves. The discovery of these items led to charges being laid under the Counterfeit Goods Act against the husband and wife running the pirate operation.

Catalogues used in the marketing of their business and orders received for delivery on the day of the raid were also seized.

SAFACT CEO, James Lennox, warned people conducting pirate film and console games businesses from their homes that they will be caught and could face criminal prosecution.

Lennox added that members of the public concerned about the high levels of crime in the country should help reduce crime by not supporting criminal activities, such as movie and games piracy, and, reporting suspicious activities to local anti crime hotlines or the national SMS Crimeline on 32211.

In addition to the criminal actions of those involved in the illegal copying and selling of films and console games Lennox emphasized that the negative impact on legitimate businesses runs into hundreds of millions of rands a year in lost potential sales to distributors, retailers, rental outlets and cinemas as well as job retention and creation.

For more information on this release and piracy in general, please contact the spokesperson for SAFACT: James Lennox; mobile: 082 496 2587 or e-mail: