LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles is installing a network of surveillance cameras intended to catch street hawkers selling counterfeit goods, especially pirated copies of Hollywood movies on DVD.

The Motion Picture Association of America, which represents major movie studios in government matters, contributed $186,000 to help pay for the system, which was unveiled Tuesday by Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton.

In recent years, the MPAA has embarked on a campaign to stamp out the illegal copying of movies on video and DVD, which it says costs the industry $3.5 billion annually in lost revenues. The MPAA argues copyright piracy also leads to lost jobs and threatens the entire industry.

“That industry is the lifeblood of this city,” Bratton told reporters. “If it goes, we go. It’s that clear.”

The plan calls for 10 cameras to be installed on buildings in Los Angeles’ downtown fashion district where sellers of counterfeit goods target tourists and other potential buyers.

Four cameras are already operating. Six more were scheduled to be installed in coming weeks, Bratton said.

The digital cameras beam pictures to a police precinct where they are monitored by an officer who can dispatch undercover police to the location. The LAPD has found that similar camera surveillance systems in three city parks have dramatically reduced illegal drug sales, Bratton said.

Bratton said word about the fashion district cameras was quickly getting out to sellers of bogus DVDs, In a typical week, police confiscate thousands of illegal DVDs in the fashion district. Last weekend, only 191 were confiscated, with four arrests made, Bratton said.

Capt. Andrew Smith, the commanding officer for the fashion district, acknowledged sellers could pack their wares and move to another street, but added the plan would deprive them of a market filled with thousands of shoppers.

He said the LAPD hoped to expand the system if it was successful.