MPA declares Asian raids a success

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) ended its Operation Red Card anti-piracy campaign in several Asian countries last month, seizing a record number of illegal disc and optical disc burners.

The MPA worked with local law enforcement agencies throughout Asia during this year's World Cup soccer tournament to provide information about alleged pirates and piracy activities, and often accompanied officers on their raids, IDG News Service reported.

About 6.7 million optical discs were seized in the raids, along with 1,483 optical disc burners, and the arrest of 915 suspects, all of which surpassed earlier records for similar campaigns, the MPA said.

Most of the raids — 573 in total — were in Thailand. Indonesia had the largest number of optical discs seized, with more than 2.1 million, while in Taiwan, the greatest number of optical disc burners (483) were confiscated.

Police actions also took place in China, Hong Kong, India, and Malaysia. The MPA, the international arm of the Motion Picture Association of America, estimates that its members — which include all of Hollywood's major film studios — lost $1.2 billion to piracy and illegal downloading in the Asia-Pacific region last year.