Vendors continue to sell pirated VCDs

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: Vendors here have resumed the sale of pirated VCDs despite several raids conducted by the police following the enactment of a copyright law two weeks ago.

Most of the vendors said that they had to sell the VCDs as they had nothing else to sell.

"Raid the (pirated VCDs) producers first, before targeting us. We won't sell them if they don't produce them," said Sutono, a vendor at a shopping complex here.

The Banyumas Police, covering the towns of Purwokerto, Cilacap, Purbalingga and Banjarnegara, has conducted a series of raids and rounded up thousands of illegal VCDs.

"We only seized the illegal products. We don't prosecute the vendors," Banyumas Police Chief Insp. Gen. Natakesuma said.

The vendors sell pirated VCDs at between Rp 4,000 and Rp 7,000 each. Selling a pirated product carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail according to the new law. -- JP