09/07/04 - Film Oscar for Cumbria's counterfeit crimebusters

Cumbria county council's Trading Standards unit will be presented with a national award from the film industry by Raymond Leinster, Director General of FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) on Monday 12th July. The award recognises the team's success in tackling DVD piracy in the county. The presentation takes place at the national launch of the film industry's campaign against DVD piracy hosted by TV personalities Jonathon Ross and Lynn Faulds Wood. The launch takes place at 9.30am at the National Film Theatre, South Bank, Waterloo in London. The award will be presented to Pat Thomas one of the county's principal Trading Standards Officer   

In a major operation earlier this summer Trading Standards officers in the county targeted major suppliers and producers of illegal DVDs, CDs and PC games operating in Cumbria. Over 10,000 items were seized during a two month operation including recording units, PC's and stocks of copied films and games intended for resale.   

Phil Ashcroft, Head of Trading Standards for the county council says:   

"We targeted people who were illegally copying and selling DVDs, CDs and PC games on a large scale. People who it seemed were making a living or at the very least a healthy second income from this illegal activity. They were identified by good investigative work and by following up complaints from the general public. The success of the operation was a great example of teamwork between ourselves, the police and industry watchdogs."     

County Councillor, Jack Richardson the council's spokesman for public protection says:   

"This award rightly recognises the hard work and determination of Trading Standards in cracking down on major counterfeiters. People who abuse the system by running an illegal business. Not only that, people who buy illegal copies have no guarantee on the quality of the product and no way of getting their money back if what they buy isn't what they expect."