The BPI yesterday announced that three of those Welsh people have been arrested over allegations they were supplying master discs to the CD black market - ie providing music pirates with the recordings they pirate. The trade body says the raids, undertaken by Cardiff Trading Standards, are part of a major anti-piracy operation aiming to target the top of the piracy supply chain. The three suspects - two men and one woman - have been bailed pending further examinations of computer equipment seized after a series of raids.
BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor told CMU: "This was a very professional investigation by Cardiff Trading Standards, and we expect this successful operation to cause major disruption to the supply and distribution of counterfeit masters nationwide. We extend our thanks to the authorities. Almost every counterfeit CD, film or computer game bought in this country has involved criminal gangs at some point in the process. We urge consumers not to fund criminals by buying these fakes. Even if people buying these discs don't care about the creative people who are deprived of their living by copyright theft, or the local businesses and jobs they are helping to destroy, they should be under no illusions that they are almost certainly funding an organised criminal element who are often engaged in other areas of crime. Fakes may have a lower retail price but carry a far greater social cost".