SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Recording Industry Association of America is honoring Utah's aggressive campaign to stop music piracy.
The association presented the Utah Attorney General's SECURE Strike Force with a Gold Record award on Thursday.
Strike Force members have seized more than 50,000 pirated media items worth nearly $700,000 in the past year and a half. Fourteen people have been arrested for piracy, and forged music has been seized from stores in at least five different counties in Utah.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says the illegal industry means lost jobs for businesses and lost taxes for the state.
Suspects in the arrests have been charged with forgery, racketeering and piracy. Agents have also seized guns, drugs, fake government documents and several thousand pirated movies during their operations.
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