Police Captain Accused of Bootleg DVD Sales

[i am x]

I couldn't be the only one that's heard about this yet. I checked around and didn't see it posted, so I'm posting it now. Forgive me if it's already been posted somewhere on the board........

http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-dvd10dec10,0,7189320.story?coll=la-headlines-technology

December 10, 2003

Police Captain Accused of Bootleg DVD Sales

By Richard Winton and Monte Morin, Times Staff Writers

Just days after Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton pledged a crackdown on motion picture piracy, department investigators on Tuesday helped arrest an LAPD captain suspected of selling bootleg DVDs.

Julie D. Nelson, a decorated patrol captain and a 28-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, was arrested at the Hollywood station following a sting operation in which she allegedly sold counterfeit film titles such as "The Cat in the Hat" to undercover officers.

Authorities said they recovered hundreds of suspected bootleg DVDs from her home in Orange County and from a friend's home in Torrance. Officials said they also recovered recording equipment at the home in Torrance.

"The message here is, it does not matter what rank you are. If you break the law, we will come after you," said Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell at a news conference after the arrest.

Nelson, who commanded the department's Harbor Division until early this year, was booked on suspicion of possessing and selling counterfeit merchandise and for failing to disclose the origins of a recording, both felonies. Nelson, 52, has been suspended with pay pending further investigation, McDonnell said.

Although LAPD internal affairs officers arranged the sting operation, Nelson was arrested by police officers from La Palma, where she lives. McDonnell said Nelson would be prosecuted by the district attorney of Orange County.

Officers began investigating Nelson after receiving a tip. They arranged to purchase DVDs from her at an Orange County business Saturday, before Nelson attended the Hollywood station's annual Christmas party, McDonnell said. He said it does not appear that Nelson sold DVDs at the Hollywood station, and it was unclear how long she might have been selling DVDs.

"She sold to people with whom she had personal relationships and people she knew," McDonnell said. Another police source described the movies recovered at her home as recent blockbusters. "You name it, she had it, whatever was hot," the source said.

The DVDs that were seized will be examined by the Encino-based Motion Picture Assn. of America, which has called for heightened enforcement of anti-piracy laws and launched a campaign to discourage the theft of movies.

Earlier this year, Nelson was shifted from the head of the Harbor Division to the No. 2 slot in Hollywood. Her new duty as a patrol captain was widely viewed as a reduction in authority.

A graduate of Cal State Fullerton, Nelson spent much of her career as an investigator, particularly of rapes and domestic violence.

She has been considered a pioneer in investigative methods. In 1994, she established one of the first emergency response programs for victims of domestic violence and served as the head of Robbery Homicide Division's rape unit.


At a news conference Friday, Bratton joined Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and movie industry executives on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall to announce efforts to combat movie piracy.

Among other initiatives, Bratton told reporters then that he personally would keep an eye out for movie pirates and that his department would instruct movie theater employees on how to make a citizen's arrest if they found someone illegally taping a film with a camcorder.

[pacmania_2001]

I can't wait till a movie executive or someone from one of those anti-piracy companies is caught.

[tumbar]

pacmania_2001

What a wicked little grin that thought brought to my face on a grey December day.

[pacmania_2001]

Among other initiatives, Bratton told reporters then that he personally would keep an eye out for movie pirates

Wow, I bet that is going to catch alot of people.

Wait up MPAA, no need to go spend millions developing anti-piracy technology, pursueing legal action or launching a public awareness campaign, no, we have Chief Bratton.

[goirish!!]

Just read this article and began wondering, how many people are actually caught selling bootleg DVDs and at what level is it worth man power and resources to pursue this offense. I mean bottom line is almost every computer purchased today is equipped with DVD burning hardware. The knowledge to do this type of thing is available to everyone above the age of 7, so the big question has to be at what point do you meet the law of diminishing returns?

I realize that a crime is a crime no matter the magnitude but still you have to remember the 13yr old girl sued by the MPAA for downloading (was this over kill?)

IMO it is going to become almost impossible to police the casual bootlegger. By this I mean the guy who burns ten copies of Nemo for his friends. It sounds like the officer in this particular case was more than a casual bootlegger. The article says she had hundreds of DVDs including Cat in the Hat which is not even out on DVD yet.

Again, not promoting bootlegging in any shape or form, just pondering the bigger picture of how to police what appears to be a potentially huge problem.

[pacmania_2001]

The solution is to attack the problem at its source. Their needs to be greater crackdowns on the large distributors, the release groups and so forth.

The problem is that it is a hell of alot easier to target and police the middle people of the operation like the above individual or the individual shops that sell them in places like New York City.

It's like the war on drugs, if they hit the cartels compared to your local neighbourhood dealer then they would significantly impact the problem however the kingpins behind these operations are smart and very adept in evading the law.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Good point goirish!!,does DVD piracy warrant a press conferance and manpower when more serious crimes are accuring?When I lived in L.A. I remember the LAPD would announce illegal cable box seizures and it would be on TV and in the papers,I would just laugh thinking "give me a break"as I read the next article saying "Murder on the Rise".

BTW...I had bad experiences with the LAPD...as a victim of course.

[smearbrick1]

You know, this entire situation drips with irony.

Most of the time, if someone came into this forum and made the claim that he/she had been pirating dvds and selling them to the public in large quantities, everybody and their uncle's cousin would be all over them for even mentioning this. Now, someone puts up an article detailing this exact thing. Only this crime was perpetrated by a police officer. The result of this, was an inevitible demotion, a media frenzy, and some empty promises by yet another person in authority. My point is: instead of people in this forum bashing the police officer for pirating dvds and selling them, they are bashing the police who caught her. One could almost sense a feeling of outrage that this woman was caught. Anyone?

[Gazorgan]

Reselling something he downloaded off the net (my assumption) is bad for multiple reasons. That's just plain wrong. So is copying DVD's and selling them.

Copying your own DVD(that you purchased) isn't wrong. So there are 2 extremes. Now finding where the line actually is intuitively easy. Actually it's pretty much made out of concrete. The real problem is the MPAA is ignoring that line. The MPAA doesn't think you have the right to backup something you bought. So the MPAA has crossed the line.

Now in the US it's an attitude: Try and screw me will you, well screw you!!! Which is the "justification" for Internet Piracy. Take that justification away and there is no, even remotely, justifiable Internet Piracy.

When you treat your consumers like shit, you get unexpected results. When you keep using a 1970 business model in 2003 you get interesting side affects(MPAA and RIAA). I'm sorry, but the Motion Picture Industry has been using the same tactics since the 1930's. You should read some of the books on how the studios did/do business.

Remember: A studio doesn't care if a movie is good or bad, just that it makes money (Release/DVD/VHS/Cable/Pay-per-View/Network/Special Edition release/Bundled releases (eps 1,2,3) ). Exactly the same for teh RIAA. Never delude yourself that it's about the artists, it's not.

[indolikaa]

Just read this article and began wondering, how many people are actually caught selling bootleg DVDs and at what level is it worth man power and resources to pursue this offense. I mean bottom line is almost every computer purchased today is equipped with DVD burning hardware. The knowledge to do this type of thing is available to everyone above the age of 7...

Wrong. By age 7 they've moved from ripping DVDs on a single computer to hacking DVD duplicators to produce the desired result.

[i am x]

IMO it is going to become almost impossible to police the casual bootlegger. By this I mean the guy who burns ten copies of Nemo for his friends. It sounds like the officer in this particular case was more than a casual bootlegger. The article says she had hundreds of DVDs including Cat in the Hat which is not even out on DVD yet.

From what I could gather from the article (and the actual report I saw on the news), the captain was bigtime. The machine that her friend was housing was able to burn many DVD's at a time. Also, BOTH houses had "hundreds" of DVDs stored, I'm assuming most, if not all, bootlegs. The whole point of this is that you can get busted whether you're small time, or big time. It just takes one person that's a "do gooder" to rat you out. After that, it's just a matter of time. The captain was ratted out by a "source", and an undercover investigation followed. Before that, apparently, her operation was going smoothly.

[i am x]

You know, this entire situation drips with irony.

Most of the time, if someone came into this forum and made the claim that he/she had been pirating dvds and selling them to the public in large quantities, everybody and their uncle's cousin would be all over them for even mentioning this. Now, someone puts up an article detailing this exact thing. Only this crime was perpetrated by a police officer. The result of this, was an inevitible demotion, a media frenzy, and some empty promises by yet another person in authority. My point is: instead of people in this forum bashing the police officer for pirating dvds and selling them, they are bashing the police who caught her. One could almost sense a feeling of outrage that this woman was caught. Anyone?

I agree with what you said, but I personally do not fall into the category of a bootleg/pirate basher. I have never personally bashed piraters. But I DO agree with you in that many people here HAVE, and yet they seem to have a problem with the police who ended up catching one of their own. To be honest with you, it doesn't make me "happy" that the police officer got caught, anymore than it would when an average Joe gets caught. They should be out on the streets dealing more with drugs, murder, and all the other plentiful crimes that go down in Los Angeles. Instead, they're so worried about being on the 6:00 news, that they make a huge deal out of catching a bootlegger since she happens to be a police officer, and yet you can go across any main intersection in South Central (and at many swap meets too) and see guys out there openly selling bootlegs. Shit man! You can even see them talking with cops that are driving by, or stopped at the street lights! Why don't they bust THOSE guys? You know WHY? Because busting THEM is not NEWSWORTHY!!!!!!

[energy80s]

Recently in Dublin, prison officers and inmates of Mountjoy Prison were found to have been pirating DVDs (both feature films and porn) and selling them in the city centre through intermederies! It's crazy.

[goirish!!]

i am x;

Although I live a world away from LA I understand your points. A crime is a crime no two ways about it, but to some degree I think the only thing that was accomplished by this is someone got face time on the LA news and someone else, who had amassed a fairly impressive record, is now ruined. Granted, the magnitude of the operation seems bigger than Bubba down the road making about 75 disks a month, but none the less you must wonder is the city as a whole now safer for her arrest?

I have nothing but respect for the police that on a day to day basis risk their life in order to make mine safe. My concern comes when these same officers are used as stepping stones for those above them. I would much rather see the problems that really effect society addressed as aggressively by these same face time officials as some of the lesser ills of the world.

[goirish!!]

Recently in Dublin, prison officers and inmates of Mountjoy Prison were found to have been pirating DVDs (both feature films and porn) and selling them in the city centre through intermederies! It's crazy.

I believe that there was a line in the Shaw Shank Redemption sums this up;

"On the outside I was as straight as an arrow, I had to come here to become a criminal."

[lordsmurf]

Unless they can assume you actually made real money ($25,000 or more), few companies care to go after bootleggers. They can get by cheaper with C&D letters. Only when a big-timer is found do they whip out the guns. That story is likely missing something.

[mysticgohan17]

piracy is to larsony as marijuana is to crack. why dont the police go after the rapists and child molestors?

[goirish!!]

Unless they can assume you actually made real money ($25,000 or more), few companies care to go after bootleggers. They can get by cheaper with C&D letters. Only when a big-timer is found do they whip out the guns. That story is likely missing something.

With all due respect, I believe the true question resides more closely with law enforcements role in this story rather than the RIAA.