After constant complaints from the MPAA-funded Federation Against Copyright Theft over the sale of pirate movies by traders, a council in the UK has taken the decision to shut down an entire city market.
As reported on TorrentFreak, in 2008 a city in the north of England took drastic action to stop people selling pirate DVDs and CDs at a street market.
Market officials threw out the baby along with the bath water by introduced a blanket ban on all CDs and DVDs – not just the counterfeit ones but ALL media and audio-visual products, including computer games.
Now, a council in Leeds, England, has dealt with its piracy problem by throwing out the baby, the bath water, the bath and the bath room, by shutting down an entire market following complaints and lobbying by FACT, the MPAA-funded Federation Against Copyright Theft.
Leeds City Council said it had closed down the near 20 year old Cross Green market – a venue which attracts up to 1,000 stallholders every week – because of the high levels of illegal and counterfeit goods on sale. Arrests and convictions had apparently not solved the issue.
“FACT has been working with Safer Leeds to find a solution to the problems that have plagued Cross Green Market for years. Over the past year alone we, along with other organisations, have made frequent visits to the market and found a high proportion of stalls selling counterfeit and stolen goods,” said Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General.
“It is vital that the trade in counterfeit goods which has blighted so many markets is stamped out and those markets are returned to being safe environments for families to enjoy. It is regrettable that criminal activity in Cross Green Market had reached such levels that the only solution was to shut it down,” he added.
The hundreds of legitimate traders affected by the closure said they were happy that their businesses had been ruined by the decision, since those selling the pirate DVDs have now all given up their trade and piracy has completely stopped in Leeds.
Yeah, right….
Thanks to Andrew
Article from: FreakBits