Merchants Jailed on Video Piracy Counts

In what was described as the largest single crackdown against video stores dealing in pirated videocassettes, police and investigators with the Motion Picture Assn. of America seized 10,000 illicit tapes and arrested six South Gate store owners, authorities said Friday.

The joint effort Thursday by police and the association also targeted a printing business suspected of producing counterfeit labels and boxes for the pirated tapes, which were worth about $500,000 in retail sales and rentals, police said.

Jack Valenti, association president, said in statement from New York that the operation was the largest single sweep against U.S. video stores dealing in pirated tapes. The illegal practice costs legitimate operators about $100 million annually, he said.

The unidentified owners of the South Gate stores were booked on suspicion of violating a state “truth in disclosure” law that prohibits the misrepresentation of the true manufacturer of a video or audio recording. If convicted, they could each face a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a fine of $250,000.