Bust near G.R. Mich. Group charged w/making 1000s of pirated CDs and DVDs

[Noahtuck]

Remeber this one from a month ago,
MGM is suing Kentwood, Michigan man for DLing movies

Just saw this on the news last night
Group charged with making thousands of pirated CDs and DVDs

February 16, 2006 - 8:15AM
KALAMAZOO (NEWS 3) - Two Kalamazoo residents were arrested by federal agents, accused of making pirated CDs and DVDs.

It allegedly happened at Wireless City Pager and Cellular offices in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's office announced that a grand jury returned indictments against 26-year-old Nicole Presley and 30-year-old Corey Kenyatta Hamby of Kalamazoo. Three others from Grand Rapids were also named.

"Four or five unmarked cop cars all came in, went in there, they told everybody, all the customers they had to leave and starting carrying out boxfuls of CDs, equipment and everything," said neighboring merchant Skot McKibbin.

Agents seized 34 DVD and CD burners; nearly 7,000 original and pirated DVD movies and almost 12,000 original and pirated music CDs.

Some of the charges carry prison sentences and thousands of dollars in fines.

http://www.wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt&id=23714&template=breakout_local.html

[Guest]

They should go to jail.

[Faustus]

What a bunch of creeps.

[Doramius]

Agents seized 34 DVD and CD burners; nearly 7,000 original and pirated DVD movies and almost 12,000 original and pirated music CDs.

I don't like the RIAA & MPAA much, but this is where I feel they should be putting their effort and I agree with these people being thrown in jail. Backing up a disc is one thing, this is totally another.

[gadgetguy]

I don't like the RIAA & MPAA much, but this is where I feel they should be putting their effort and I agree with these people being thrown in jail. Backing up a disc is one thing, this is totally another.

My thoughts exactly.

Don't you just love how full of details that news report is? I've been trying to find out the names of the GR people involved but I can only find the K-Zoo people.

[Supreme2k]

All civil-type cases like this should be monetary only. These guys should have to work for the industry from which they stole. They should never see a paycheck, but rather be paid in living/eating expenses. In jail/prison, they wouldn't be paying back.

They should also have to pay restitution to China for dipping into their piracy trade without authorization.

Seriously though, I'm not swayed by all the "Pracy hurts everyone!" hooplah. They should be punished, but not that severely. What next, are they going to go after their clients (who were also clearly breaking the law)?

[gadgetguy]

All civil-type cases like this should be monetary only. These guys should have to work for the industry from which they stole. They should never see a paycheck, but rather be paid in living/eating expenses. In jail/prison, they wouldn't be paying back.

While I understand the logic behind that, there are good, honest, hard working people that are seeking work in the industry and they should not be passed over to allow these pirates to "pay back" for what they've done.

[Doramius]

I SAY PUBLIC BEATINGS!!!!

Better yet, fracture discs and fling the pieces like frisbees at them while they're tied up to a post naked. A light mist of listerine or lemon juice also spraying over them. But they can have something to cover their face. It'd be just cruel if you didn't give them something to cover their face.

[Supreme2k]

While I understand the logic behind that, there are good, honest, hard working people that are seeking work in the industry and they should not be passed over to allow these pirates to "pay back" for what they've done.

I didn't mean directly, but rather that their money (for whatever job they do)should go to the industry. Working for them, but not under them.

[gadgetguy]

I didn't mean directly, but rather that their money (for whatever job they do)should go to the industry. Working for them, but not under them.

But... they're pirates.

[Faustus]

But... they're pirates.

I never like that term to apply to people who sell software and media illegally. I prefer to call them what they are counterfeiters.

[Doramius]

I say we give those counterfeiters a counterfeit beating. Instead of 2x4s we used aluminum & fiberglass 2x4s that have a vinyl or painted woodgrain on them. Cause they aren't really 2x4s, they're "counterfeit 2x4s".

Here's a question. If I own a copy on the movie on R2R or VHS, I feel I should have every right to back it up to a more durable media (IE: DVD). Now there are copyrights on the VHS & film, but there is no CSS protection. I also own a legal copy of the movie. Therefore, is it legal for me to burn a copy of the movie to DVD? I've broken no security encryption.

I do this a lot with older movies that are not on VHS or DVD. However, If the movie ever does come out on DVD, I usually sell the R2R/VHS, unless there's something in the original that was omitted on the DVD or odd changes were made.

[BJ_M]

right now -- people that are "just backing up their own dvd's" are lumped into the same category as these people in Michigan .....

so say some orgs

[Doramius]

Another thing I find funny, is that they say its illegal to crack the CSS copy protection, but technically, If you buy a Sony DVD, You legally can only be playing it on a Sony DVD player since a CyberHome or other company DVD player is reading past that security. That's like Hacking a PS2 to play XBOX games. Only the unit is factory modded by the to different companies anyway.

Like I said, As for the GR people above, I don't approve of what they did, but as for personal back-ups, the MPAA & RIAA are way out of hand.

They're treating it like a drug war. Get the druggies for whatever you can or throw them in jail, and nail the big time parties as hard as you can or drain as much money out of them before they go back on the street and sue them again once they make a ton of money.

[offline]

Similar technology to your routers SPI is already said to be employed to sniff out packets from music and video. Right now this is being used mostly by wireless ISP's to slow down and restrict p2p and ftp bandwidth for load balancing purposes, but the idea is to employ it at major gateways to stop piracy. Some using p2p for legitimate purposes are already suffering from the restrictions. News services are next. The content providing industry is in overkill mode imo. They will damage themselves. The majority who just want a fair deal are being punished.

[BJ_M]

why everything should be done using ssl on non standard ports ...


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[Noahtuck]

I hate how they always give you little to no info on these things and then you never hear about it again

It just amazed me that real close to some if us here (you know who you are)
they are running a Wireless City Pager and Cellular office and in the back making a bunch of "bootleg" dvd's & cd's

Must have been gearing up for the flea markets.

Now the cd's could be passed off if done right but the dvd's ?? anyone with a clue you think would definately notice the odd color compared to any retial bought dvd.
Unless they did'nt care and were throwing them out there for $5 or something ??

It sure would be nice to find out more details on what they were doing and planning on doing

You'd think it would be safer and more $$$ to be made dealing crack or some shit

Somebody snitched them out or they did something awful stupid in the open and someone turned them in.
Unhappy customer realising what they bought after the fact ?

[Doramius]

True, If you're a druggie, you're really not going to snitch much if you get a bad product because it may mean you get tossed in the cage too.

If you get a bad DVD and get pissed off, you can call the cops saying there's pirating going on and destroy your crappy copy.

Maybe there's just a breed of criminals with morals. :/