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| Sunday, 7 April 2002 |
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Pirated CD racket bared by JAYAMPATHY JAYASINGHE The CID probing in to the racket where a businessman from Ja-ela had amassed a fortune by counterfeiting several popular local movies and teledramas are searching for two young men who were allegedly involved in the racket. CID spokesman told the "Sunday Observer" that the men, one from Elpitiya and the other from Kegalle were knowledgeable in computer technology and had helped the suspect to copy local films and tele-dramas into compact discs and videos. The two men are evading arrest. A few weeks ago, a team from the CID raided the Ja-Ela house of the main suspect and found several hundreds of illegally pirated compact discs (CD) and videos. They also found similar items at his shop in Keyzer street in Pettah. Apart from the CDs and videos several fake degree certificates for students seeking admission to foreign universities were also found at his residence, the spokesman said. The sleuths meanwhile are searching for the vital camera used in the production of counterfeit video movies. The suspect businessman who was remanded earlier by the Negombo magistrate have been granted bail to appear in courts when noticed. Some of the videos and CDs were of popular movies like "Rosa Wasanthe " by Udayakantha Warnasuriya, "Mamath Geheniyek" by Sunil Fernando, "Parliament Jokes" by Ranjan Ramanayake, "Aswesuma" by Bennet Ratnayake which are currently being screened at several theatres in the country. Other popular films included "Kinihiriyamal" and "Sadaresdhara". The counterfeit movies have been distributed in areas like Moratuwa, Galle, Kurunegalla, Anuradhapura through their network of contacts. The sleuths are investigating whether some of the CDs containing popular English movies have also been pirated. The recent amendment to the Intellectual Property Act No 52 of 1979 gives protection against infringement of trade marks. |
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