FBI Says It Broke Up 2 Movie Piracy Rings

The FBI said it broke up two movie piracy rings Wednesday that specialized in sneaking digital camcorders into theaters and shooting hit films, then duplicating and distributing millions of bootlegs worldwide.

Agents arrested 13 people in raids across the city. Officials said the rings had been operating since 1999. Industry officials believe that they were responsible for nearly half of all illicit recordings made in the U.S.

Some of the DVD knockoffs included the FBI warning seen at the start of legitimate discs -- “no small irony,” said Mark Mershon, head of the FBI’s New York office.

Using computer file-sharing networks, the suspects distributed the counterfeit films to Pakistan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other countries, said Michael Robinson, an anti-piracy official for the Motion Picture Assn. of America.

Because counterfeiters sometimes bribe their way into advance screenings, their work can hit the black market before the movies are released in theaters, part of a broader scheme the movie industry says robbed it of $18 billion in global sales in 2005.

One of the movies the suspects were conspiring to profit from was “Superman Returns,” the highly anticipated film released Wednesday, officials said.

The FBI said assistants were used to surround “cammers,” people who specialize in covertly filming movies, to conceal their filming and prevent people from blocking the view.

The video shooters were paid several hundred dollars per film by manufacturers who would duplicate and package fake DVDs for distribution to street peddlers, court papers said.

The suspects were awaiting arraignment in federal court in Manhattan. Each could face five years in prison if convicted of conspiracy, copyright infringement and trafficking in counterfeit goods.