Mumbai: On 30 April, acting on an informant's tip, 15 officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA), with the support from Malaysian Federation Against Copyright Theft (MFACT), representing the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in Malaysia, raided an unlicensed replicating facility in an industrial area of Kajang, a town located about 30km south of Kuala Lumpur.

Three men, aged between 20 and 50, believed to be workers operating on the replicating lines were arrested. MDTCA authorities also seized two DVD replicating lines, one printing machine and 3,750 kg of polycarbonates.

Polycarbonate is the material used for the production of optical discs. It is estimated that the replicating lines had a production capacity of more than seven million pirated discs, potentially generating criminal revenues of more than US$22 million.

This raid was conducted two days after a successful burner lab and warehouse raid which yielded a total of 238 DVD-R burners and more than 200,000 pirated DVDs.

"These back to back actions against pirate manufacturing bases taken by the MDTCA reflect the zero tolerance policy of the Malaysian government," said the Motion Picture Association president and managing director, Asia-Pacific Mike Ellis. "The MPA is fully committed to supporting the government in their execution of this policy."

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