Crackdown on piracy in Australia

Hong Kong – Australian police recently raided a pirate TV syndicate operating in Australia via high-capacity Internet servers based in China. The December 13 raid on the B&L LED Sign company in Hurstville, Sydney, signalled the latest stage in a long term campaign to track down the promoters and users of Internet-based networks distributing illegal TV signals in Australia. Based on the cash raked in by the Hurstville operation, police estimated that A$150 million could be have been effectively stolen from the legitimate TV distribution industry by multinational criminal gangs. Although the primary victim this time around is TVB Australia, the piracy network has also been stealing and reselling TV signals from a host of other international pay-TV channels, including high-value TV networks such as CNN, ESPN and MTV, alongside a library of VoD shows and movies – all streamed from China directly to the user's TV set. CASBAA praised the act and held it up as evidence that policing is indeed effective. Simon Twiston Davies, CASBAA CEO, said, "The problem is only going to grow, if other governments don't get serious."