Des Pirates... en boite...

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) is happy to announce that its anti-piracy raid yesterday in the Billingham area and in Lingdale North East of England was successful. Modified consoles seized include Wii, DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 (PS2), and the PlayStation Portable (PSP).

The raid was done with the help of police officers from from the Cleveland Police Economic Crime Unit in conjunction with Stockton Police. Two Trading Standards securities were also at hand during the operation and a total of three individuals were caught in three different areas. Aside from the consoles, modchips and modified games were also recovered.

"We were delighted with the outcome of this operation, finding and bringing criminals to book. We now call on all police and trading standards authorities to act with the same level of commitment in order to protect legitimate businesses and consumers against these exploitative criminals," shared ELSPA Managing Director Michael Rawlinson.

Likewise, Cabinet Member for Community Protection Dave McLuckie is satisfied with the way the operation was carried out. He added that this raid is for the people after all, "People should be aware that by buying pirated equipment they are buying something that is unlikely to be of good quality and ultimately leads to a complete waste of their money."