The BPI has welcomed a decision in the Scottish courts to jail the man behind a counterfeit CD outfit. George Malone was handed a 9-month sentence after the court heard how, for three years, he produced and sold up to £18,000s worth of counterfeit music and software CDs a week - providing supplies to a string of other bootleg sellers.
His operation was closed down after a joint investigation by the BPI, games industry trade body ELSPA, North Lanarkshire Trading Standards Special Projects Unit, Strathclyde Police and The Department For Work and Pensions (he was committing benefit fraud too). Making the story much better - while under investigation Malone helped the authorities somewhat by posting a leaflet advertising his bootlegging services through the door of one of the enforcement agency's offices.
Commenting on the sentencing, BPI Director Of Anti-Piracy David Martin told CMU: "It's impossible to know exactly how much Mr Malone made during the operation. But given the rapid turnover of counterfeit stock in these cases, it's not unreasonable to assume that at its peak, this illicit business was turning over tens of thousands of pounds a week. Commercial music piracy is a growing problem, and sadly not all criminals are stupid enough to alert the authorities to their activities like this. But by working with our colleagues in the film and software industry as well as Trading Standards and police, we have a growing team of investigators working to fight the counterfeiters."