Turns out that people still buy CDs – lots of them – including millions of illegal knockoffs. That is the takeaway folllowing a major BPI conviction against a European counterfeit CD ring, an old-school dragnet that has plenty of modern-day markings.

The operation, based out of the Czech Republic, sold an estimated 1.2 million discs – often urban compilations – before getting dismantled in 2008. The massive network – called SFH – produced long-running compilation series like In the Club, perhaps familiar to some music fans in the UK. That compilation ran for 15 editions, and was just one of several sold across various British shops and open markets for years.

Looks like massive CD counterfeiting doesn’t pay, kids. Operator Farrah Nissa and friends have now been handed fines totaling 170,000 pounds ($266,000) by the Snaresbrook Crown Court in London. That comes on top of previous jail sentences. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the money is being collected by the BPI and distributed to various members.