Releaselog

Stupid Australian pirates busted by police

Police claim they have smashed a $12 million-a-year pirate DVD ring in three raids on houses in Melbourne’s west. The raids busted Australia’s largest pirate DVD syndicate, with 170 DVD burners and more than 400,000 pirated discs allegedly seized, said operations director Neil Gane from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT). Victorian and federal police and AFACT investigators first searched a home in Sunshine West following reports from the public of suspicious activity, Mr Gane said. More than 250,000 discs and 100 burners were recovered, he said.

A 49-year-old man is assisting police with inquiries. Two houses at St Albans were later searched, where 70 more burners and more than 150,000 discs were allegedly found. The same addresses were raided in November last year, Mr Gane said. The two alleged burner labs, running 170 burners 10 hours per day, seven days per week, could produce more than four million discs a year with a street value of more than $12 million, he said. The haul allegedly included copies of latest release films including American Gangster, I am Legend, and Alvin and the Chipmunks, which are showing in cinemas and have not yet been released on legal DVDs. These idiots misusing the scene for burning and selling the releases make me always sick, they deserve what they asked for.

Source: RLSLOG readers, Adelaide Now

Comments (203)

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  1. Armin
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:41

    wow

  2. Armin
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:42

    Btw yay first! lol… anyways.. i’m so surprised by this, what will this do for our future?

  3. dam
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:43

    that’s one hell of a lot of dvd burners

  4. Kelbie
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:43

    all that money on that hardware and supposedly making $12mil a year yet they had to use a pallet turned on its side for a desk :o

  5. Wankstar
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:44

    It’ll do nothing for “our” future.

  6. Rich
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:44

    @armin (2)

    ha ha, more like you wish you were first!!

    gutted for these guys, didnt realise that was how piraters made all the movies they sell on the streets.

  7. Ozzy
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:44

    lol and i faught that my two burners re alot for one pc XD

  8. OrthodoxAthiest
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:46

    No great loss, since they are the guys selling rips on streets and in markets. I’m kinda suprised the report only values 4 million discs at $12 million. I’m sure a long time ago before p2p was around, I paid more than $3 for such a copy. Well, now we have torrents, these bandits don’t really serve a purpose to our generation. Now if they were giving them away free, that would be a different matter! :P

    Glad it wasn’t any of the important crowd! :) Sounds like the guy who was caught gave up all locations and associates too. So much for taking one for the team! :|

    peeps.

  9. incog
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:46

    im sure that pic is from a bust in the uk a year or so back,anyway surprised there was no prostitution/terrorism or drug dealing involved with this??and im surprised you didnt call the guy Nigel hehehe

  10. January 24th, 2008 | 20:48

    #9: it really is from the uk bust :)

  11. TheFilmBuff
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:49

    WTF? that is a lot of f’n burners!!! the other day i was at my local computer store and saw a guy buy $2000 in external harddrives that were on sale it looked like he had a similar opperation going…

  12. Bill
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:49

    Me and my little downloading is nothing compared to these

    people….

    all i can say is wow….

  13. January 24th, 2008 | 20:49

    What kinda fools dont realise that you can download this stuff for free anyways? =P

  14. coffeejesus
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:50

    oh well. they were busted a year ago and then again this year. I guess next year we’ll read about them again.

  15. The Governator
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:50

    I wonder if they had a Christmas party like other offices in December? That’s my random thought for the day.

  16. zer0drew
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:53

    “What kinda fools dont realise that you can download this stuff for free anyways? =P” The stupid ones ?
    lol

  17. January 24th, 2008 | 20:53

    lol @ 15 xD

  18. The Answer
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:53

    @13 ReeGed

    You’d be surprised mate! My flatmates had no idea what torrents were or that you could get free movies that way. There’s a lot of pirates selling stuff on the streets near where I live. On a Saturday they put all their fake DVDs on a blanket and crowds swarm around to buy stuff. I always laugh whenever I walk past. I love my torrents!

  19. STFU
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:57

    people who buy pirate dvd’s = n00bs = bare lolz

  20. sober
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:58

    I’ve made copies for people before, but never sold them. Except once, I guess the gangster thought he was obligated, I took that $3 and tossed it in a donation bucket since I’m not in it for profit, but to share media that most would have never considered experiencing.

    Has anyone on rlslog payed full price for a piece media, such as movies, games or music, and come to find out it’s fake? I have, and I hope these punks get what they deserve.

  21. dilligaf
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:59

    these a$$holes gives most of us a bad name, glad they got busted.

  22. sim11
    January 24th, 2008 | 20:59

    yeah i would have to agree there are alot of people out there who don`t know what torrents or newsgroups and are simply happy to go down to the local market and get what they need .

  23. Morfar
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:01

    Downloading is one thing, but making profit from it, is where the line goes, they deserve it. 12 mill a year, Highly doubtful they sell everything they burn, so im sure its alot less. But hey there’s alot of idiots out there so…

  24. n00b
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:02

    hahahah owned

  25. lenny
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:05

    if they was selling alvin and the chipmunks that would have been a TS and to charge people for what is basically a cam is just wrong.

  26. that guy
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:06

    My buddy is a Comcast installer one of his first days he had to hook up internet and cable for some middle aged lady.

    He walked in and she had porn dvds stacked up on her kitchen table with a DVD burner and a bunch of blank disks!

    so I guess guys aren’t the only 1d0175 out there :\

  27. Eric
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:06

    Just goes to show that the best way to pirate is with the help of the internet

  28. dublitze
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:06

    I once bought a pirate dvd in greece - was very cheap but the end was missing :)

  29. Captain DVD Pirate
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:06

    Anyone want a copy of “Cloverfield”? It’s filmed in a cinema but it’s a good copy. $10. Order ‘em now before they’re all gone!

  30. Rapidshare4Life
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:07

    lol @ 29

  31. chrismg84
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:08

    @20 yeah im sure u took that 3 dollars and went and found a donation bucket.

  32. blunden
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:10

    @23: My thoughts exactly. They diserve whatever they get.

  33. sober
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:10

    @31

    Matter of fact… I did.

  34. arf
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:11

    They certainly got what they deserved. But you guys are making out like they are ripping off the scene. How do you know where the crims got their source material?
    If it was organised criminals I would imagine they have had sources for years and probably don’t always rely on downloading from the net. After all, pirate videos werearound in the 80’s, where did they download stuff from in 1983?!
    I remember many dodgy pirate videos of ET going around school in 1982. I think they were cam versions even back then. Imagine trying to smuggle a camcorder into a cinema back then! The things were the size of a small country.

  35. Snetter
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:11

    If originals were sold at sensible prices the pirates would give up and go back to mugging old ladies. :-(

  36. sinister
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:11

    lol @ St.Albans

    I grew up there. It used to be a multi-cultural (European) neighbourhood but these days, it’s more of a Vietnamese ghetto.

    Anyway, I know people whom pay $10 (Australian) for bootleg* copies of new releases (without case/insert/printing on disc), so I’d suggest the 4 million copies have a much higher real-world value.

    *Some $10 bootlegs were CAMS and SCREENERS no less!

  37. Ksawery
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:13

    That is very good they got caught! I hate ppl who download scene rlses and make profit. FU(K compercial pirates!

  38. Eric
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:14

    Lol. I hate people who do this type of crap. Just get it on the net.

    BTW, sorry for going off topic a little but the poll hasn’t changed in almost 2 weeks.

  39. Jim BOB
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:14

    I dont think that photo is of the actual bust scene.. All the movies hanging up are fairly old… Underworld Evolution is like 2 years old isnt it.

    I bet this was done by asians or wogs.. They’re the only races stupid enough to do something like this

  40. Mr^Bullet
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:16

    I love these articles rlslog keep up the Fantastic Work

  41. Ryan
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:16

    Mr.X Hasn’t posted in a while, maybe they found out where he lives =p

  42. Gangster Number 1
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:19

    What it doesn’t tell you is that all of those DVDs are pirated episodes of Neighbours and Home And Away. Oh, and that Doctor Who episode with Kylie Minogue in it.

  43. l.y
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:19

    was it a decent copy of alvin & the chipmunks?

  44. Adam Jones
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:20

    to quote Fonejacker…

    “want to buy a dvd? 3 for a fiver!”

  45. mrborat
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:20

    U WANT BUY DVD in my best chinese accent 100 percent

  46. sinister
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:21

    @ Snetter

    You’d think that with Blu-ray on the horizon, the price of DVDs would drop. WRONG. Here in Australia, the average price of new-release DVDs has gone from $25 to $35 in the last couple of years.

    Pretty sh!t, eh?

  47. Jay
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:23

    This filth deserves all they get. @39 i think they where zipperheads and nignogs actually.

  48. The Cloverfield Monster
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:23

    I hate pirates. Except for me though. I’m a good pirate. These pirates were evil pirates. Good pirates rule.

  49. gimme
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:25

    any one got a good copy of enchantment,golden compass or rocky ill pay throught the nose for them

  50. Adam Jones
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:25

    @39: yea caus no other race or ethnic group would ever or has ever done that. silly racist that you are

  51. mcf3778
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:25

    looks alot like my room.. did i get busted while i was out of town?

  52. Bob
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:26

    BURN THEM!!

  53. strangelove9
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:27

    Back in the day, the Bulgarians used to pirate CDs… but those were “true” silver discs, not recordables.

    Pirates like the ones described in the article are the lowest form of life.

  54. GreekWedding
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:29

    PWNT

  55. incog
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:31

    ok guys hope this place doesnt turn into vcdquality!we all know stealing is a crime we are all doing it;) my young lad gets to see all latest films before most other kids,anyway my point being he tells his friends and they are jealous but hey their parents have differnt lives from us (and i certainly aint giving all the kids in the district free vds)ie they aint into computers like we are??so what do they do??they buy off looky looky men and nigels,soo what! get over it, supply and demand its human nature we are all to blame..oh and cheers martin for confirming that pic i knew i seen it before ;) atb with the site..incog

  56. synonymous
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:34

    what a bunch of asshats. YOU DON’T SEll COPIES!

    Also, Martin, would it kill you to act like the rest of the RLSLOG staff and actually post the links to your sources? You’ve honestly never been able to do that. WTF?

  57. mrfrost
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:34

    @39, yeah there so stupid they were millioniares

  58. bello
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:49

    Selling warez are baaad.. I hope they’ll get a free tour to the chair with straps and a funny hat. These guys are worse than the movie industry. Can’t believe people buy that crap. I rather pay $25 for the original than $1 for a cheap copy.

  59. brutus22
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:53

    cool burners

  60. xoxo
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:53
  61. OrthodoxAthiest
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:54

    @31, lets face it, its not like you have to search for a donation bucket anymore. Walk into almost any store and look on the counter, and there’s one or more there. Fund for someone’s funeral, cancer research, MS, local school, etc. If I gave $1 to each collection within 5 feet of me, I’d be bankrupt in under a year (okay… 1 week, but shhhh).

  62. mr æ
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:56

    BUSTED!!!serves them right,these aholes gives Pirating a bad name…lol ehhh….but anyways really serves them right.
    Making money is not what this is about,its about saving money,
    and exploring the limits of your Bandwith and personal limits too.

  63. ^___^
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:56

    movie ticket prices is going up in Australia as well, whata counter-effect to combat piracy -____-

  64. OrthodoxAthiest
    January 24th, 2008 | 21:58

    @56, jeez, calm tf down! If you can find this website, I’m sure you are capable of googling: “australian police pirate dvd ring” and clicking any of the first five links which are all regarding this news item! They supply information/direction here, not wipe our asses for us! Thanks Martin.

    Maybe we need a thread entitled “these are the post requirements you must meet or we’ll nag” that people can post on! :P

  65. Lul
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:00

    LoL, with that pc my backups would be a lot easier

  66. LOLipops
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:01

    I never really did understand the logic in bashing the sale of pirated DVDs but have no problem buying an ounce of haze from your local dealer. Everyone knows the majority of people dont share for the love of it, hence the reason public trackers suck and RS is on the rise. Nobody wants to seed back.

    Theres still a big market for rips. Some people arent computer savvy,or just rather not risk it. I’m sure mechanics think the same thing about people who cant change their own oil so pay to have it done, or uber geeks that balk of the idea of someone paying to have their hard drive reformatted. It happens.

    “The same addresses were raided in November last year”. That should tell you the operation isn’t too organized. You wouldn’t use a stash house that was already raided once within the past year. The amount of money is always exaggerated in the press. Happens with drugs too when they give the “estimated street value”. With the profits I’m sure they can hire a dream team, bond out, and be at it again serving the people that don’t know any better. Later to all you hypocritical hippie douche nozzles.

  67. piratez
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:11

    HATERS. IF YOU WAS MAKING THAT MUCH MONEY YOU ALL WOULDNT BE SAYING SUCH THINGS. IF I WAS SELLING THEM AND COULD HAVE A CLIENTELE LIKE THAT I WOULD BE HAPPY.

  68. Me
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:13

    Hahahahaha!!!11!!!1One Pwned

    There is a chick who sells dvd’s at my local for $5 - $10 & I always laugh at the fools who buy them. Long live torrents!

  69. Prendergast_Fool
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:13

    LOL @ Most of you!

    What do you think this is all about? I don’t know wether any of you have noticed but we are not what you would call poor and the people releasing this stuff are no Robin Hood’s.

    You can fool yourself into believing that the uploading/downloading of copyrighted material is some sort of anti commercialist revolutionary act but it’s not.

    I download and watch movies because it costs about £40/$80 to go to the cinema where I live and I think thats unreasonable. I have no moral objection to downloading and watching in the comfort of my home where I can drink, smoke, not be sat next to idiots etc..

    Could I afford it though? Yes and I could afford to buy all the classics too, £3.99 on dvd is hardly robbery for a piece of Kubricks genius.

    At the end of the day, life is expensive and any chance I get to ease the burden of that expense (aside from all out armed robbery), I am going to take and I suspect the same is true of most of you hypocrites.

    These people were trying to make a bit of money. Do you really begrudge tham that? I’ll bet 99% of you guys have considered selling films/software at some point. I know I have, what stopped me was the risk involved, not some moral obligation to the lords of filesharing lol.

    At the top of this hierarchy (I meen the scene) there will be people making money. You know why? Because if there wasn’t profit in it somewhere no one would get involved. What about the advertisements on this site? I guess all the revenue goes back into hosting lmao.

    Get over yourselves and accept that these “criminals”, just like you “revolutionaries”, were trying to keep their pockets full and make life a little bit easier.

    p.s. That $12 million sum is a (vastly inflated) figure based on 100% turnover and not representative of any real revenue.

  70. bigbuyerlost
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:20

    Still people buy dvd?

  71. zero3xile
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:22

    the pic was obviously just stuck into the article to reflect the story, not sure why everyones so picky, but damn even here in australia we have massive amounts of fake dvd’s being sold. i thought all that stuff came from china :)
    But yeah anyone who makes money off theses scene releases pushes their luck. Sellin these movies is just asking to get caught.

  72. THE BUTT NAKED OSTRICH
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:22

    @69
    Prendergast_Fool…

    Very well said…

  73. THE BUTT NAKED OSTRICH
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:23

    @69
    Prendergast_Fool…

    Very well said… : )

  74. erazare
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:23

    there’s better ways to get rich… I recently bought a new site and it will be online on feb 1st, http://missnudemyspace.com we have already projected due to our requirements and such an est. gross of about $499,200 first year.

    i dl movies for my own purposes.

  75. Mikeovic
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:24

    Well said Prendergast_Fool. I totally agree. I download movies for the sake of saving money and fully enjoying the experience. If I really like the film, I’ll try to buy it on DVD to help the just cause. But other than that, good point.

  76. xtazy
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:25

    lol @ 2 …. stupid aussie pirates… the ideas not to get caught

  77. jgv115
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:25

    wow i live in melbourne :S

  78. XL
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:27

    why didnt the guy just say the were backups or just for personal use or summat?

  79. beejay
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:29

    @66 I think most people don’t seed as much due to bandwidth ristrictions and fear of being caught by the mpaa/riaa etc. Otherwise people would be happy to share… I mean, why not?

  80. robbedblind
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:33

    $3 a dvd I was selling em for $4, bastards undercut me again ;P

  81. wh0is
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:37

    Good, these f*****s ruin it for everyone.

  82. FsT
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:38

    Not to nitpick (I usually dont mind grammar) but its not:

    These idiots misusing the scene for burning and selling the releases make me always sick, they deserve what they asked for.

    Its:

    These idiots misusing the scene for burning and selling the releases always make me sick, they deserve what they got.

    Otherwise the meaning changes, and I hardly think they wanted to get caught:)

  83. Mantra
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:38

    Their genitalia should be caressed by a blunt rusty axe.

  84. chainedscreams
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:45

    “These idiots misusing the scene for burning and selling the releases make me always sick, they deserve what they asked for.”

    What can I say but ditto. These pricks need to burn.

  85. fourth.
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:45

    im a media student thats just finished writing an essay about dvd piracy, i tried to include all majour cases and now this happens the day after i handed it in. wank.

  86. ameprage
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:49

    As they say in America… Don’t do the crime if you cann’t do the time…..

  87. yabbadabba
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:52

    @69

    Exactly what I was thinking as I read the comments along the way.

    What hypocrisy …. oh those peeps were pwned!!!!!!
    But yet we are all a bunch of thieves here as well.

    But.. but…but…. they’re selling it for a profit. Get over yourselves what your not profiting by keeping that money in your pocket. They were profiting just on a larger scale.

    If your gonna be a crook at least have some accountability for it.

    And for the *I sold it once and tossed the 3 duckets into some donations buckets.. lmfao

    WOW!!!! that was really righteous of ya… C’mon your a crook just like anybody else here.
    What do you think that big guy upstairs is going to read RLSLOG comments and say oh well JimmyJoe guy did pirate that DVD once….lol
    But he did in his OWN mind donate it to charity after words…

    lmao yeah right you know you kept the money just admit it, otherwise you wouldn’t have been compelled to even sell it for some dollars.

    If for some actual reason you did feel compelled to sell it for the benefit of charity. I say get that person a pair of green tights, a bow & arrow set, and legally change your name to Mr. Hood…

    still lmao….. Did you claim the donation on your taxes cause if you did that still makes you a crook anyways……

  88. JesusTheCapenter
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:52

    These guys are going to hell.

  89. jamaican lover
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:52

    THAT MESS UP..IF U CAN MAKE MONEY OFF THESE MOVIE WHY NOT DO IT(BETTER THAN SELLING DRUGS)…THEY SOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN CAUGHT..WHO THE HELL SNITCH

  90. turningjapanize
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:54

    ROFL at Comments #78 #80 and #82

  91. turningjapanize
    January 24th, 2008 | 22:58

    are you talk about honor amongst thieves yabbadabba,
    comment #87

  92. jak
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:01

    These guys are just stupid, but still they pale into insignificance when compared to the rogue trader who defrauded Societe Generale out of $7billion, thay guy must have had the biggest pair of nuts on the planet lol

  93. ke
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:01

    I just realized something. The appendix STV stands for Straight to Video, right? Shouldn’t it be Straight to DVD…then it would be STD :D:D Hahhah Sexually transmitted disease :D LOL

  94. Mailto:Mr. X
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:04

    callin me mates in wallagarung stupid? flamin wallabies.

  95. yabbadabba
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:07

    @91

    what????

    oh yeah we are all so honorable here.
    Heck we got a modern day robin hood… downloading for the poor!!!!
    Some revolutionaries…. doing it to break the biz!!!
    and some that say I just download them for my kids that’s not stealing is it…

    You need to read my post again cause it was more about hypocrisy than anything else…

  96. mr deadmanx
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:08

    reminds me of a place i used to work ;)

  97. The Dude
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:10

    While in Romania back in 2003 saw pirates selling games and movies, porn etc. everywhere. When I went back in 2005, I thought I’d join in the fun for some extra cash having pirated a gazillion things, and carrying them with me on the plane:) Unfortunately the dastardly Romanians had moved on, the price of broadband was getting lower and more and more people were getting very savvy bout warez, meaning that there were few takers for the stuff. Just sold a few games to some peasants for a few bucks :)) Sigh, jumped on the wagon too late!

    Seems it would have been better to stay and flog these things off to the more ‘advanced’ Australians instead!:))

  98. GFire
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:19

    Yes it suck when people like that do work against the sharing
    community by selling stuff making them as bad as the money
    industry and give us all who share more problem.

  99. NMD
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:26

    They deserve what they got but its okay for hundreds of thousands of ppl to down load them illegally? Your the pot calling the kettle black buddy.

  100. Q
    January 24th, 2008 | 23:36

    @89 - you know that’s very true… It’s certainly is better than selling drugs - funny thing is tho, you generally find just as many, if not more people selling drugs than pirate DVD’s…

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