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"Largest Ever" Game Copying Device Raid in U.K.

Kris Graft's picture

By Kris Graft

February 2, 2009

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Raids on videogame pirates continue in the U.K.

The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association said Monday that authorities recently raided an illegal counterfeiting operation--one that had been previously warned by the HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs).

The January 29 raid turned up over 50K copies of illegal game copying devices, as well as counterfeit peripherals for Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. ELSPA has sent seized items in for forensic testing.

The allegedly offending company's name has been withheld for "legal reasons," ELSPA said. Mailbags at the raid location were reportedly filled with illegal product and ready to ship across Europe.

Leading up to the raid, ELSPA investigators made several "covert test purchases" on the company's website. The organization claimed the business imported over 38K illegal copying devices, with 32K of them imported since December 2008.

Tycalibre's picture
On February 3rd Tycalibre said:

I don't think they warned them they were coming guys, probably more likely they'd been warned before to stop. Didn't. And were raided as a result. Cheaper to get someone to stop by issuing a warning than conducting a raid, gotta meet budget!

savagehenry's picture
On February 3rd savagehenry said:

Like 4thVariety.. I'm a little confused about why they would give them a warning?

Either way it's a good haul, nice to know there not just targetting kids with Bit Torrent clients. :D

4thVariety's picture
On February 2nd 4thVariety said:

Wait, they warned them before raiding their illegal operation? What for? Give them time to disappear? And why didn't they just disappear after being warned? What insanity is behind all this? I sense we are missing some key pieces of this puzzle here.