enforcement
bulletin
Issue 24
September 2004
resulted in the seizure of 628,000 pirate
CDRs in 42 outlets. In this second
location a firearm and 38 rounds of
ammunition were also found. The
operations were carried out by officers
from the Fiscal Police, tax auditors, and
public security from the State of
Guadalajara, Federal investigators and
experts in Intellectual Property crimes.
The actions were extensively publicised
throughout the state on radio and
television.
Up to the end of September a total of 51
raids resulting in seizures in excess of 1.5
million discs have occurred but the
pressure must be maintained if the
scheme is to have a realistic chance of
success.
The Mexican music market has been
damaged by high levels of piracy
exacerbated by the poor economic
situation. Unit sales have fallen from 73
million in 1999 to 56.9 million in 2003.
The anti-piracy campaign has largely been
restricted to Mexico City due to limited
investigative and prosecutorial resources.
The industry has initiated ‘Mexico Plus’
with a view to encouraging the authorities
to extend the fight against piracy to
Guadalajara; a region with a traditionally
strong and vibrant music market that has
been devastated by piracy.
Two high-profile raids were carried out on
26th August in the City of Guadalajara,
Jalisco State, in the market of San Juan
de Dios and El Parían. The objective of
the searches was to combat the wholesale
trade of pirate product and to further one
of the objectives of 'Mexico Plus' - the
conversion of illegal traders to licensed
sellers.
The first raid uncovered 32,800 pirate
CDRs in 14 outlets and the second
ABritish judge jailed a notorious
international music bootlegger for
three and a half years on 8th July. Mark
Purseglove is estimated to be one of the
biggest bootleggers in the world,
amassing an estimated UK £6.6 (US
$12.5) million fortune in 11 years of
music piracy. Purseglove sold his bootlegs
in Europe, Japan and across the world via
an international network of wholesale
dealers. He had also used