Fairytale Ends For Shrek Criminal

Wednesday 9th January/... A market trader caught selling original boxed copies of PlayStaion2 Shrek the Third game for a mere £10 each at a West Midlands market has been arrested and bailed pending further investigation.

In an intelligence-led operation involving Staffordshire County Council Trading Standards, Staffordshire Police and ELSPA (the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) investigators, the stall of a 50 year-old man at Tamworth market was raided on 18th December. Prior to the raid, several test purchase were made by ELSPA investigators at the stall three weeks to ascertain how the man, who can't yet be named for legal reasons, ran his illegal operation.

Ninety-nine copies of Shrek the Third were seized at the stall itself and a further 190 units, together with 86,000 contraband cigarettes and various branded items that breach trademark (i.e. clothes), were later also discovered at his premises. Following an interview the man confirmed he had been making regular cross-border trips from his home in Halesowen, Birmingham to Tamworth, Staffordshire where he ran a stall to sell his ill-gotten gains.

Upon further investigation it was discovered that the copies of Shrek the Third being sold at the stall were a small sample 40,000 units stolen from a secure unit in Stourport on Severn back in August 2007.

Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA, said: "I congratulate Staffordshire Trading Standards and Staffordshire Police for successfully shutting down another criminal operation. ELSPA would like to thank the efforts of everyone concerned in their attempts to protect legitimate local traders and remove illegal products from the marketplace."

Ends.

EDITORS NOTES

About ELSPA - http://www.elspa.com

ELSPA (The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) was founded in 1989 to establish a specific and collective identity for the computer and video games industry. Membership includes almost all companies concerned with the publishing and distribution of interactive leisure software in the UK.

ELSPA's activities include: Official Chart and Industry Reports, Anti-Piracy UK and EU, PR and Communication, Events. More information on all these activities can be found at http://www.elspa.com.

About Software Piracy and its negative impact on both consumers and industry.

ELSPA estimates criminal gain through computer and video games piracy sits at approximately £540 million.

Piracy/counterfeiting is illegal and punishable by fines and jail sentences.

The illegal copying of software poses the very real threat of criminal prosecution and a criminal record, as well as the risk of massive personal financial loss under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Consumers have no recourse under law for faulty pirated games, which can damage hardware.

Counterfeited/pirated games are often mixed with obscene or pornographic material.

Local and national jobs are lost as result of pirate operations.

Proven links exist between many organised counterfeiting organisations and dealers in drugs and pornography.

For further information on ELSPA or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Tom Sargent/Laura West

Barrington Harvey

Tel: 01462 456780

Fax: 01462 456781

Email: tom.sargent@bhpr.co.uk/ laura.west@bhpr.co.uk

Issued by: Barrington Harvey, Trooper's Yard, Bancroft, Hitchin SG5 1JW