Warn friends, ‘pirate’ told

By Glen Atwell
THE mastermind of a backyard DVD-burning laboratory in Cranbourne was convicted in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court last week of 12 copyright offences .
Laurence Barr was fined $5000, plus court costs, and magistrate Riley used the hearing to warn other DVD pirates that they faced jail if convicted.
In sentencing, Mr Riley said he wanted Barr to “spread the word to his friends”.
“Make sure all of your friends and relatives know how serious this matter is, because if any one of them comes before me at this court, they will go to jail,” he said.
Barr admitted he operated a DVD burner laboratory, downloaded illegal movie files, and then sold multiple copies for between $5 and $10.
Mr Riley described the scale of the movie piracy operation as “commercial”.
Neil Gane from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) said he commended Victoria Police for bringing another movie pirate to justice.
“Movie piracy is not a victimless crime,” Mr Gane said.
“It directly impacts the businesses and livelihoods of the 50,000 Australians who work in the film and television industry.
“Courts now recognise that those involved in this illegal trade are racking up large profits and their criminal behaviour will not be tolerated.”
On 8 November 2006, Victoria Police raided Barr’s residence in Cranbourne and seized more than 5000 pirated DVDs, along with three computer burner towers used to make illegitimate copies of DVDs.
In the past two months, AFACT has assisted state and federal police in 10 raids, resulting in the seizure of 426 DVD burners and an estimated 660,000 pirated DVDs.