MUMBAI: Australian auction sites, eBay and Oztion, have removed 300,000+ illegal DVD movies and television (TV) shows. By doing so, Australian shoppers online are being encouraged to check if they are purchasing the real thing.

Since the beginning of 2010, the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has worked with eBay and OZtion to remove 4,865 listings representing 322,956 illegal DVD copies of movies and television shows from their respective sites.

The illegal DVDs included, box sets of several popular television series such as Lost, Underbelly and Mad Men.

AFACT executive director Neil Gane said, "We welcome the continued support of eBay and OZtion in working together to ensure that Australians enjoy a genuine shopping experience."

eBay Australia & New Zealand managing director Deborah Sharkey added, "eBay is a great place to buy and sell practically anything but that does not mean everything. The transparency of the eBay marketplace, combined with our close working relationship with AFACT and law enforcement mean that eBay can effectively address wrongdoing, as demonstrated by the removal of these DVDs."

Motion Picture Association, Asia Pacific president and managing director Mike Ellis said, "We are encouraged that online marketplaces are tackling movie piracy on their services. We work very closely across the region with sites such as eBay and OZtion, providing advice on content protection.  We greatly value our relationship with them and we see such partnerships as the best way to protect the public from fraudulent content while safeguarding the rights of creative communities in every country."