"a huge amount of counterfeit music and films from which the ringleader earned £3,000 a month"

Since when has a £36k/year pay (either before or after tax) been "huge" compared to the likes of those in the city, or indeed the music industry executives?

£3000 a month? Hardly a big fish, isn't he? With RIAA MPAA claims that it costs the industry gzillions green dollars a year they would need to find another few thousands of such "triangles" to make a difference...

As in "we found a bag stuffed with £50 notes" or is it the theoretical money which pirates have "stolen" from the music/software industries?

The fact that they are described as web-based makes me think the latter - I've yet to meet a single person who has ever handed over cash to illegaly download something. Maybe they emailed someone once - as far as plod is concerned that's probably enough. After all, these are the same guys who confused a handful of castor beans under the sink with a chemical weapons plant.

There's that problem again, the BPI for all the fine sounding name are not an official anything and should not be accompanying the police on the raids. They are a civil third party with a vested interest in the outcome of the raid and with no power to perform raids independent of the police.

The only people who should enter a property in a raid are the people authorized by the court to ensure the evidence is cleanly obtained without tampering. If the BPI didn't have the power to enter during the raid they should not have entered under the cloak of a police raid as pretend policemen.

This goes for BBC camera men too, they go along with a raid, and enter property, the policeman says "Police we have a warrant let us in" and the owner lets them in. However he is deceived, the truth is "Police and BBC Cameraman, with a warrant for the police only" is the reality.

The court didn't authorize the cameraman, he goes in pretending to be a policeman.

I thought most people used P2P or BT these days to get software, music and videos.

Actually that's not entirely true. A ring doesn't need to be round.