MONTREAL (AFP) — Canadian police said Wednesday they seized thousands of counterfeit DVDs and arrested eight suspects, dismantling a criminal network that distributed illegal copies of US television series.
In a statement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the Montreal group reproduced popular television shows such as "The Six Million-Dollar Man" and "Ally McBeal" using 200 DVD burners capable of making 14,000 copies a day.
The DVDs were then sold as originals at a discounted price and distributed through several websites to US and Canadian customers.
The RCMP said complaints to the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association from several unsatisfied customers who realized they had been duped led to the arrests.
If convicted, the accused face a maximum five-year jail sentence and a fine of one million dollars.
The US film and television industry estimates DVD counterfeiting costs them six billion dollars in lost revenues annually.
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