A copyright piracy syndicate is sentenced to jail in Hong Kong for contravening the Copyright Ordinance, Hong Kong customs said Monday.

The syndicate, including a 51-year-old woman and two men aged 22 and 26, were given jail sentences ranging from 33 to 55 months by the District Court for contravening the Copyright Ordinance, Trade Descriptions Ordinance, and Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance.

They were arrested during a Customs anti-piracy crackdown on July 7, 2004, for operating a pirated disc replicating workshop, three storage centers and eight retail outlets.

In the operation, customs officers seized more than 50,000 pirated discs, three sets of replicating machines, 11 sets of computers and two sets of high-speed copiers, totally worth about 1.5 million HK dollars.

The Group Head of the Special Task Force of Customs and Excise Department, Albert Chi-hung Chan, warned that copyright piracy was a serious offense and offenders would be liable to severe punishment upon conviction, including forfeiture of all crime- related assets.

Source: Xinhua