RIAA CRACKDOWN ON PIRATES PAYING OFF

The number of counterfeit, pirate and bootleg CDRs seized in the first part of 2000 grew almost 350% from last year's figure, according to the RIAA's midyear anti-piracy statistics.

The RIAA said it aided in the confiscation of 539,130 pirated CDRs, up from 155,496 last year.

In addition, the number of commercial sites to which Digital Millennium Copyright Act notices were sent increased by more than 200% from last year.

"The investment our members made in anti-piracy efforts this year has begun to show significant returns," said RIAA Senior VP and director of anti-piracy Frank Creighton. "Our members recognized early on the threat the industry faced by the potential abuses of new technologies emerging in the Internet and optical disc arenas."

Creighton added, "If we can just stop those guys in Times Square, we'd really make a dent in the proliferation of worldwide piracy."