Superintendent Fitz Bailey, head of the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, yesterday confirmed the arrest of 12 persons who were selling illegal copies of DVDs in the Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, area during a raid last Saturday.

Bailey said the police were continuing their zero-tolerance approach on crime and would be stepping up pressure on persons who continued to breach the Copyright Act.

More than 1,000 illegal copies of DVDs were seized during the operation.

The vendors have been charged with breaches of the Copyright Act and are scheduled to appear in court this week and next week.

The OCID head told The Gleaner that three of the persons arrested were repeat offenders, who were all previously fined for breaching the Copyright Act.

A major challenge

Bailey said one of the major challenges was that many people do not consider the offence to be a serious crime and so believe they can just pay the fine and continue to break the law.

"But the fact is, it is a crime, and we will continue to snag those who break the law," he said.

A person convicted under this act could be fined a sum of $100,000 or imprisoned for a term not exceeding two years.

He said though manpower has also proven to be a challenge, the police would not allow this to stop them from enforcing the law.

"We need to get back to basics," he said. "A small crime is still a crime, and when these are ignored, it often opens the door for bigger crimes to occur," Bailey reasoned.

Just last week, The Gleaner revealed that streetside vendors in Half-Way Tree were selling illegal copies of pornographic DVDs to students.

Sociologists and children's rights advocates also raised concern over the absence of suitable legislation to punish those who provided such material to underage children.