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Customs officers yesterday (September 26) conducted an operation to crack down on retail activities involving the modification of game consoles to enable customers to play pirated games on the hardware.
In raids against two shops in Tsuen Wan, officers of the Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau seized 4 sets of game consoles with circumvention devices and about 270 infringing game discs. The seizure was worth about HK $26,000.
Customs officers also arrested two men aged 22 and 36. Both of them are the shop owners.
Customs conducted intensive investigation after receiving a public report. Apart from keeping a close watch on the game consoles put on sale at the shops concerned to monitor whether they have contravened the new provisions of the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2007, the Department works closely with relevant copyright owners.
The support gained from copyright owners, including their technical assistance, has been proven essential to effective Customsˇ¦ law enforcement.
The Government has introduced new provisions to the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2007 imposing criminal liabilities on people who deal in circumvention devices or provide a circumvention service for commercial purpose. The new provision has become effective since April 25.
Under the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2007, any person who makes, imports, exports circumvention device for sale or hire, deals in circumvention device, or provides a commercial circumvention service commits a criminal offence. The maximum penalty for the offence is a fine of $500,000 and an imprisonment for four years.
Ends/Saturday, September 27, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:21
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