All pirate compact disc factories have been wiped out, Customs officers said yesterday.
About 50 officers took part in raids on Tuesday and Wednesday on a string of CD factories, including a plant in Chai Wan where they seized about 4,000 pirate CDs and production equipment worth a total of about $8 million.
Four men were arrested and face charges under the Prevention of Copyright Piracy Ordinance.
The ordinance took effect on May 29 and its three-month grace period expired last Saturday.
Superintendent Johnny Chow Wing-keung from the department's intellectual property investigation bureau said: 'This is the first unlicensed optical disc factory we smashed since the criminal provisions of the ordinance became effective.' The new law requires manufacturers to obtain licences for the production of discs.
Mr Chow said that of the 60 applications received, 48 were approved and one rejected. The rest are still being processed.