Since a crackdown got underway in 1996 over 220 illegal CD and
DVD production lines have been closed, officials said
yesterday.
The two latest illegal production lines were discovered by local
police in Shenzhen on March 15 according to a report by the
national anti-piracy office under the General Administration of
Press and Publication.
Rewards of up to 300,000 yuan (US$37,500) have been offered to
encourage members of the public to report any suspicious activity
which could be related to the production, transport, trading and
sale of pirated CDs and DVDs. "More than 40 million yuan (US$5
million) worth of rewards have been paid since 1996 and we plan to
expand the system," said Wang Xikai, publicity director of the
anti-piracy office.
In one Shenzhen raid more than 60,000 finished pirated discs and
730,000 semi-complete were found. Suspects Huang Wenxin, Hou
Linping and Li Zhihui were arrested after police discovered their
bootlegging base.
Police believe the production line could produce 30,000 discs
per day and had generated more than 7 million of them since last
July.
In a similar case around 360,000 pirated discs were found in a
garage in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on January
15. While a more secret production center was uncovered in the
cross-border area connecting China and Vietnam.
"Collusion between domestic gangs and overseas traffickers makes
the situation more complicated," said Liu Binjie, deputy director
of the press and publication general administration, who heads the
administration's anti-piracy work.
The administration will launch a 100-day campaign urging people
to say "no" to pirated discs and publications on July 15.
(China Daily July 5, 2006)