The crackdown on video game piracy in South Africa kicks into high gear, with the first local PlayStation 3 jailbreak raid taking place yesterday at a residential property in Parktown, Johannesburg. Jailbreak devices are used to circumvent the security features on PS3 game consoles, in order to facilitate the playing of pirated PS3 gaming titles.



This raid was conducted by the South African Police Service’s Commercial Crime Unit, after receiving criminal complaints from the South African Federation Against Copyright Theft (SAFACT). Members of the police were assisted by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Computer Forensics Lab.



Various state of the art computers, circumvention software packages, jailbreak USB devices, PS3 consoles as well as hard-drives were seized during the raid. In addition documentation, fake PS2 games and original PS3 games, believed to be employed as master copies, were also seized.

One suspect has been arrested and will remain in custody until the court appearance for bail in the Specialized Commercial Crimes Court either today or early tomorrow. According to Jacques Botha, director of Finance and Special Operations for SAFACT, it is the first PS3 circumvention arrest in the world, with similar raids to be conducted across South Africa soon.

Update: The suspect who is of Pakistani origin, received bail this afternoon. Bail was set at R10 000, with the passport also having to be handed in. Next court appearance is set for 29 September.

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