[The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) hailed the civil prosecution Monday of two owners of a San Bernardino, California swap meet/flea market -- the first-ever instance of a local, state or federal law enforcement agency filing civil charges for repeatedly turning a blind eye to pirated music sold on swap meet/flea market premises. The owners of the Waterman Discount Mall and Indoor Swap, Ho Suh Jin and Gustavo Zarate, were repeatedly advised that vendors on their premises were blatantly hawking pirated CDs and failed to take any proactive steps to address the illegal activity. For more detailed information, contact R. Glenn Yabuno with the San Bernardino District Attorney's office @ (909) 891-3330.

While the RIAA, on behalf of its member companies, has filed civil lawsuits against swap meet/flea market owners and operators in Houston, Sacramento and Columbus, New Jersey, Monday's action by the San Bernardino District Attorney represents the first ever civil charges brought by government prosecutors. The RIAA's civil enforcement actions are part of a larger campaign to target piracy at flea markets, with major efforts in St. Louis, New England and New Jersey just in the last couple of weeks. Below is the comment of Cary Sherman, President, RIAA, on the civil charges against the San Bernardino swap meet/flea market owners.]

"We are grateful for the efforts of district attorney Michael A. Ramos and his team. This action represents an important milestone - for swap meet owners who think they can profit from piracy, civil charges are a reality. This strong deterrent should further up the ante for those who think they can flout the law and rob artists, songwriters, music publishers and record companies by illegally selling copyrighted music."