Police hail car boot piracy bust

Current losses through fraud to the UK games industry run to £2bn a year

The UK games industry loses £2bn a year through fraud, but police and trading standards officers are claiming the capture of just £18,000 worth of counterfeit goods as a "major coup".

In a joint operation last week police and trading standards arrested seven computer game and DVD counterfeiters at a car boot sale in Cannock, Staffs.

The sting, which represents less than 0.1 per cent of the lost revenue to UK game developers, was hailed as a success by the authorities.

"This operation has dealt a severe blow to those trading in counterfeit products and makes it clear that piracy will not be tolerated," said Michael Rawlinson, director general of the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA).

ELSPA worked with representatives from Staffordshire Trading Standards, police and the Federation Against Copyright Theft, which were all present as the arrests took place.

The arrests were part of Operation Carter, which has so far netted £2m from criminal gangs. However, that leaves a further £998m that organised crime has deprived of software companies.

As the UK's games development sector shrinks for lack of investment funds, some experts question whether enough is being done to protect our creative industries.

In the late 1990s Britain was identified as the leader in games software development by American business magazine Newsweek. But it predicted that the British lacked the ambition to exploit this position.

Scotland Yard, however, insists that it is doing all it can. "These crimes are taken very seriously," said DS Garry Helsby of Staffordshire Police. "Joint operations like this will continue to target car boot sales across the country."

Two women aged 40 and 21, and a 25 year-old man, were arrested. The three were detained for the production and distribution of counterfeit goods and money laundering.

Four other people were also arrested for money laundering and conspiracy to defraud. All are currently on police bail.