METRO FREE Wednesday, September 30, 2009 HELP METRO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT. RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER TODAY INSIDE TODAY See Page 11 The Lisbon Treaty: Our Q&A will put you in the picture See Page 14 PLUS Whats on TV tonight Pages 14-15 Robert Downey Jr talks to us about his latest movie Thank you, possumsThere wasnt a feather boa in sight yesterday when Dame Edna Everages alter-ego Barry Humphries collected a prestigious award in recognition of his career. The veteran comedian opted for a sedate navy suit when he picked up the James Joyce Award from UCDs Literary & Historical Society. Joyce would have enjoyed his lilac- haired creation, the comic joked. I think he might have liked Dame Edna she was a bit like a respectable Molly Bloom, he said. IRELANDS black market trade in DVDs has turned into a multi-million-euro organised crime operation with half of all new films sold now coming from pirates, it was claimed yesterday. A leading figure in the fight against counterfeiting warned a piracy cul- ture has developed in the country but added that public attitudes were changing against the illegal industry. Brian Finnegan, director general of the Irish National Federation Against Copyright Theft (Infact), said about 50 per cent of all DVDs currently be- ing bought are from the black market. To put that in real terms, that works out at losses of about 80million a year, he said. The pirates wouldnt get all that, but theyd certainly get about half of that so thats 40mil- lion going to crime, he added. Mr Finnegan said it was not accepted as fact that the huge amount of money raised from the underground trade in films was funding organised crime gangs. He said as well as bankrolling gangsters, the lost sales are also taking their toll on legitimate businesses and this, in turn, was costing jobs. Speaking at an anti-counterfeiting conference, organised by An Garda Sochna, the Police Service of North- ern Ireland and Interpol, Mr Finnegan said there was traditionally a huge problem with piracy in Ireland going back to the days of VHS video tapes. But the black market had changed since then, he said, as small-time crooks were squeezed out by highly organised criminal operations. BY BRIAN HUTTON DVDs sold by pirates costing 80million Picture: Julien Behal/PA index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html