Pirate copies of Casino Royale seized in Australian raid

The copyright police have swooped again this time in Northern NSW (Australia) where they siezed yet to be released DVDs, among them the new James Bond Movie - reports SmartHouse.

Music and copyright industry watchdogs claim to have shut down a major Australian Web piracy site, with NSW Police help, after raids on two locations around Ballina, on the northern NSW coast.

Among 5000 optical discs seized were copies of Happy Feet, Rocky Balboa and Casino Royale, all yet to be released on DVD, as well as many music CDs and computer software including Windows 2007 and Vista, according to a statement by Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI). The haul is also said to have included a number of pornographic DVDs, six computers, and a large collection of documents.

Microsoft and Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft are said to have participated in the operation, which allegedly followed a tip-off by a member of the public and consequent covert purchases.

Two brothers are expected to face charges under the Copyright and Trademark Acts. If found guilty, they face fines of up to $60,500 and five years jail for each offence.

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