The Motion Picture Association (MPA) ended its "Operation Red Card" antipiracy campaign in mid-July, declaring victory and citing a record number of illegal disc and optical disc burner seizures, the industry group said Tuesday.

Coinciding approximately with this year’s World Cup soccer tournament, the MPA worked with local law enforcement agencies throughout Asia to provide information about alleged pirates and piracy activities, and often accompanied officers on their raids.

About 6.7 million optical discs were seized in the raids, along with 1,483 optical disc burners, and 915 suspects were arrested, all of which surpassed earlier records for similar campaigns, the MPA said.

Thailand saw the most raids, with 573 conducted. Indonesia had the largest number of optical discs seized, with about 2.16 million, while in Taiwan, the greatest number of optical disc burners, 483, were confiscated. Police actions also took place in China, Hong Kong, India and Malaysia.

The MPA, the international arm of the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents the interests of the U.S. film industry, estimates that its members—which include all of Hollywood’s major film studios—lost US$1.2 billion in revenue due to piracy and illegal downloading in the Asia-Pacific region last year.

-Steven Schwankert, IDG News Service (Beijing Bureau)

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