A spokesman for Hong Kong's Customs and Excise Department warned the public in Hong Kong Friday that it is an offence to bring into Hong Kong any infringing copy of optical disc for trade or commercial purposes.
The spokesman reiterated this after the Customs officers at Lo Wu Control Point arrested a 42-year-old man Thursday and seized 2,774 pirated DVDs, valued at more than 110,000 HK dollars (US$14,102 US dollars).
The officers intercepted and searched a man upon his return from Shenzhen. As a result, they seized the pirated DVDs from his trolley.
"Initial investigations revealed that the arrested man was receiving money for bringing the pirated discs from the mainland into Hong Kong," the spokesman said.
The arrested man has been released on 1,000-HK-dollar bail, pending further enquiries.
Under Hong Kong's Copyright Ordinance, any person found in possession of pirated articles for trade or commercial purposes is liable to four years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of 50,000 HK dollars (US$6,410) per article.
The spokesman stressed that Customs would continue vigorous checks at boundary control points to curb all kinds of smuggling activities.
(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2003)
