Case 1 - Customs smashes syndicated piracy by e-commerce

Customs received a report that a syndicate was auctioning pirated disks via an e-commerce system and sending the disks to overseas buyers by express mails. The pirates used overseas auction sites to sell the discs and communicated with the buyers through e-mail. The discs would be mailed to the buyer after the buyer had sent cheque payment to a mailbox of the ring leader at the Hong Kong Post.

After thorough planning, Customs arrested at a local post office a man aged 32 who was believed to be the ring leader and seized over 70 packages of pirated discs to be mailed to overseas buyers. At the same time, another team of Customs officers raided a souvenirs store in Mongkok operated by the ring leader and arrested a man aged 25. Pirated discs, remittance cheques from overseas buyers and 2 computers used for communicating with overseas buyers were seized. The residential unit of the ring leader was also raided. A woman was arrested and pirated discs and a computer used for communicating with overseas buyers were seized. During the whole operation, over 7,600 pirated discs, the majority of which being sets of well-packaged local and overseas movie discs, were seized.

After investigation, the three arrested persons will be charged for selling infringing articles and possessing infringing articles for commercial purposes. The 32-year-old ring leader pleaded guilty on all charges. Due to the seriousness of the syndicated offence, he was sentenced to eight-month imprisonment with immediate effect by the magistrate.

Case 2 - Customs detects sale of pirated game discs on Internet auction site

Acting on complaints about the sale of pirated game discs on the Internet, the Anti-Internet Piracy Team (AIPT) of Hong Kong Customs launched investigation and discovered that pirated game discs were sold through an Internet auction site. The successful bidders deposited payment into a bank account as instructed and the seller would mail the pirated discs to the buyers. To evade Customs detection, the offender never conducted transactions in person.

Disguised as buyers, Customs officers placed an order for a few sets of pirated game discs and deposited payment into the designated bank account. Customs officers then launched operation and arrested a 25-year-old man at a local post office who was sending pirated discs to buyers. During the subsequent raiding of his apartment, pirated game discs and packaging tools were seized.

After investigation, the arrested man was charged for selling infringing articles and possession of infringing articles for commercial purposes. In view of the seriousness of the offence, he was sentenced to six-month imprisonment immediately by the magistrate.

Case 3 - Sixth-form student gets criminal record for selling pirated TV drama discs

A sixth-form student was found to be selling pirated discs of TV drama through an Internet auction site. An investigation revealed that the student claimed in the auction site she could replicate the TV drama for buyers. Buyers were required to deposit payment into a designated bank account and the discs were then mailed to them.

Upon collection of sufficient evidence, Customs officers mounted an operation and disguised as buyers. They placed an order for a few sets of TV drama and met the student at a designated location. The 19-year-old student was then arrested and pirated discs suspected to be contravening the Copyright Ordinance were seized in her apartment.

After investigation, the arrested student was charged with two counts of selling pirated optical discs and one count of possessing pirated optical discs for commercial purposes. Due to the seriousness of the crime, the defendant was detained in prison for 14 days pending judgment.

During the trial, the defence counsel stated that the defendant, who was then in Form Six, as well as her family had been subject to great pressure because of the case. Having criminal record would seriously affect her future. However, the magistrate pointed out that although the illegal business was operated on a small scale, the offence was very serious and imprisonment was unavoidable. In view of her pleading guilty as well as her background and letters pleading on her behalf, the magistrate sentenced the defendant to a lenient punishment of 180 hours' Community Service Order.

Case 4 - Customs seizes largest quantity of pirated disks for sale on auction site

Acting on complaints about selling activities of pirated disks on the Internet, the Anti-Internet Piracy Team (AIPT) of Hong Kong Customs launched investigation and discovered that large quantities of pirated cartoon and animation discs were sold through a local Internet auction site. With the assistance of the Internet Service Provider, Customs officers located a computer used for uploading materials to the alleged auction site.

They mounted an operation and arrested a 28-year-old man at a MTR station when he handed over the pirated disks to a Customs officer disguised as customer. Later on, Customs officers seized from his apartment a large quantity of pirated disks of movies and animation films, including a cartoon film currently on show on TV.

Over 12,000 pirated disks and a computer worth about $310,000 in total were seized. The arrested man was found to have used the bank account of another person to conduct transactions so as to avoid Customs detection. However, by locking on the target promptly, Customs successfully brought him to justice. A 22-year-old woman related to the case was subsequently arrested. They have been granted bail and will be charged with possession of infringing articles for commercial purposes.