The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs will soon carry out regular raids on local pirated computer games peddlers in a collaborative effort with American anti-piracy groups to stamp out the trade.

Deputy Minister S Veerasingam announced this following a pilot raid operation that involved officials from the government, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the Motions Picture Association of America (MPAA).

Over 2,000 discs accounting for RM72,000 in lost revenue to mostly American software companies were seized from a shop in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

The operation dubbed Operation Games Attack is the first of such collaborative raids here involving the ESA. The association's members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the RM28 billion (US$7.4 billion) in entertainment software sold in the United States in 2006, according to its website.

"It is a momentous occasion because previously copyright owners of the games industry were individually represented by their lawyers. It was a case by case basis. There was no co-ordination in the terms of raiding and reporting," Veerasingam told a news conference at an ESA training workshop for his ministry officers in Kuala Lumpur today.

Present were ESA anti-piracy training manager Zachary Toczynski, Ministry chief enforcement director Mohd Roslan Mahayudin, MPAA Asia Pacific operations director Edward Neubronner and MPAA country manager Nor Hayati Yahaya.

Upscale battle

Veerasingam said ESA would provide the know-how to government officers to detect the sale of pirated games online.

Saying the ministry has no data on the value of the illegal trade in pirate games, he, however, acknowledged the upscale battle the ministry will have to fight.

"(In previous operations) before we reach them, they (dealers) were already informed that the van is coming their way, so they are able to leave very fast.

"The dealers would leave VCDs. He is just going to lose maybe 2,000 copies, about RM1,500 to RM1,800. He just leaves it there and runs away," he said.

He said the Intellectual Property Court, set up in March this year, was created to deal with a backlog of piracy cases in courts.

"The cases are not a priority. It takes four, five years for the cases to be settled. That's why dealers who are caught are able to operate again elsewhere during that period," said Veerasingam.

He also announced that MPAA is likely also to provide two dogs trained to detect optical discs to the ministry to assist in the raids.

Between May and August this year, the ministry carried a string of successful raids with the assistance of 'Lucky' and 'Flo'; two Labradors loaned by MPAA and UK-based trade federation Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT).

The raids were so successful that a bounty was allegedly placed on the dogs by the criminal underworld.

MPAA, which represents major motion pictures, says it lost about RM23 billion (US$6.1 billion) to piracy worldwide in 2005, RM4.5 billion (US$1.2 billion) in the Asia-Pacific region alone.