Crime syndicates may be behind Malaysia's rampant goods piracy as they could afford hi-tech copying equipment that costs millions of dollars, a senior official said today.

Such syndicates are already behind piracy in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, Roslan Mayudin, director of the special anti-piracy enforcement squad within the domestic trade ministry, told AFP .

"So far there is no evidence to show criminal groups are involved in Malaysia. But they may have a hand since production of illegal VCDs and DVDs require copy machines that are worth some RM2.5 million each," he said.

In September Malaysia launched a month-long blitz to smash trade piracy by conducting surprise raids on factories, companies and peddlers, in a bid to comply with World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations.

Hundreds of officers were deployed nationwide in the campaign code-named "Operation Genuine" and which began on Sept 2.

Public demand vs tough policing

Roslan said strong public demand encouraged peddlers to continue selling illegal VCDs and DVDs at busy nightmarkets despite tough policing.

"We need public cooperation in the war against piracy. Consumers must stop buying," he said.

One peddler, who wanted to be identified only as Lim, said business was brisk with the average price of less than RM10 for an illegal DVD a major attraction for consumers.

"The quality is equally good. So the customer does not want to pay 100 ringgit for an original copy," he said, as his business partner kept a lookout for enforcement officers.

"Raids are frequent now and it is having a negative effect on my business," Lim complained.

Leaving no stones

Business Software Alliance (BSA), a world software watchdog, has said that with a software piracy rate of 70 percent, the Malaysian software industry lost nearly RM360 million in retail revenue in 2001.

Domestic Trade Minister Muhyidden Yassin recently told AFP that the operation to weed out pirated goods had been extended until year end.

"Malaysia is committed to eradicate trade piracy. We will leave no stones unturned. We will get them," he said.

Muhyidden has described trade piracy as a "cancer" and said enforcement officers were working with BSA to raid firms.

Roslan said some 463 enforcement officials have embarked on new action plan to raid upstream manufacturers of illegal VCDs and DVDs.

"We have discovered that some of the licensed factories in the Klang Valley are producing illegal copies," he said.

Roslan warned the licenses of companies involved in such operations would be revoked if they were found guilty.

The domestic trade ministry is filing seven cases in court arising from raids on several companies since September, he said. AFP