DVD Bootleggers Beware!

[TheFamilyMan]

DVD-Sniffing Dogs Make Major Piracy Bust In Queens
Police Seize Thousands Of Illegal Discs In Three Jamaica Outlets

(CBS) NEW YORK Just one day after a pair of black labradors were unveiled by the Motion Picture Association of America as the world's first-ever DVD-sniffing dogs, the pair didn't waste time in cracking a major case of piracy in New York City.

The globe-trotting canine cops are now being credited for their work in a counterfeit DVD bust in Queens.

Full story:
http://wcbstv.com/seenon/local_story_241191122.html

[MJPollard]

Good! This is the kind of piracy that the MAFIAA should be going after, not Joe Public who makes a backup copy of The Little Mermaid so that his daughter can watch it without him fearing she'll destroy an expensive DVD.

[Cornucopia]

Wow!!!!

And I'm even MORE AMAZED at how they can sniff out the difference between BLANKS and BURNED DISCS!
And between BURNED WITH COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL and BURNED WITH ORIGINAL HOME MATERIAL!!

IOW, they probably just got lucky from their (anonymous?) tip on this one. Wonder how many others they've tried and just found yet-to-be used cakeboxes. Can't be used as evidence of Piracy then.
Oh wait, but they could use them as evidence if that "Conspiracy of INTENT TO COMMIT PIRACY" bill ever gets enacted.

:P

Scott

[victoriabears]

100% agree times a million.

We enthusiasts would not have anything to "fiddle" with if it were not made in the first place and if the industry cannot make a profit out of a production it will not get made.

That being said much software eg;DVD's is too expensive and charging a high price for a re-issue on dvd of a 1940's 1950's movie where they have already made the recovery costs is insulting.

[Bodyslide]

Not a Bootlegger but I do convert VHS to DVD for friends and family and even as a side job. Does that mean by me having a large collection of Blank media that I might get busted? I have at last count about 1200 blanks....I only buy once a year.....

[SCDVD]

Not a Bootlegger but I do convert VHS to DVD for friends and family and even as a side job. Does that mean by me having a large collection of Blank media that I might get busted? I have at last count about 1200 blanks....I only buy once a year.....

Wouldn't matter if you had 100,000 of your kind of DVD discs but I wouldn't advise hanging out on a street corner with just a couple of ripped commercial DVDs.

[Conquest10]

Wouldn't matter if you had 100,000 of your kind of DVD discs

How so?

What exactly are these dogs looking for? If I have a backup of a Hollywood movie and a home movie, how would the dog be able to tell which disc is which?

[gadgetguy]

There has to be a lot more to this story than what's been reported. I don't believe for a minute that they just randomly picked a store, walked in with the dogs and just started looking around. My guess is that they had probable cause and possibly even a warrant before bringing in the dogs. The boxes and suitcase were found in the basement and that type of packaging suggests it was not an area generally open to the public. These were definitely the pirates that should be busted, but chances are they would have been busted without the help of the dogs.

[SCDVD]

Wouldn't matter if you had 100,000 of your kind of DVD discs

How so?

What exactly are these dogs looking for? If I have a backup of a Hollywood movie and a home movie, how would the dog be able to tell which disc is which?

The dogs are just a part of the investigative process. If they find that someone had discs that weren't pirated discs, they would be told to have a nice day. The dogs just identify the plastic that discs are made of. They don'y know what kind of discs they are. But if the police are investigating a counterfeiting ring and the dogs help them find the discs in a shipping warehouse, the investigators would look at them to see what they were. If the discs aren't counterfeit ripped commercial discs, that's the end of it. The dogs are just a tool of the investigators.

[Marvingj]

The Year is now 1939..and what know what happens next!

[jagabo]

The dogs are just a part of the investigative process. If they find that someone had discs that weren't pirated discs, they would be told to have a nice day.

Isn't that what the Gestapo would say after finding all your papers were in order?

[edDV]

The Year is now 1939..and what know what happens next!

A World War?

[SCDVD]

The dogs are just a part of the investigative process. If they find that someone had discs that weren't pirated discs, they would be told to have a nice day.

Isn't that what the Gestapo would say after finding all your papers were in order?

You are using a Non sequitur. Your "logic" doesn't match your twisted point. If a vice unit is investigating a counterfeit ring, it's perfectly reasonable to use sniffing dogs to help locate the pirated material. This has NOTHING to do with "papers" and the "Gestapo". I suppose the dogs they use in airports to sniff for explosives are bad in your agenda riddled world too!

[videopoo]

I agree....Why would anyone here be against officials busting a counterfeit DVD ring? Busting these jokers is a good thing...going after folks who back up their own discs is another.

[TBoneit]

They actually had something on WCBS 11 O clock news this week. They showed the dogs and said counterfieters had put a $30,000 price on them.

[gll99]

Similar to gadgetguy, you just can't walk into a store and then go into non-public areas without some type of warrant. They must have had some advance knowledge to do a search otherwise wouldn't it be illegal? I can see where customs docks or warehouses are fair game but private property needs more than just doing a casual walk in to satisfy the courts that they had probable cause.

Looks like the dogs sniff the type of plastic and the investigators identify the illegal goods.

Glad they got these guys though because that is what is hurting the industry. This is the worse case scenario for the movie industry because they get absolutely nothing from these thieves.

[gadgetguy]

..going after folks who back up their own discs is another.

Has anyone actually been charged or prosecuted for this? I have no love for the MPAA, but for all their bluster about what's legal and what isn't, I thought they actually only pursue those that file share copyrighted works (like 82 year old Grandmas) or distribute unauthorized copies (like this story).

[Marvingj]

They will start with the bottleggers than the Average Joe just making a backup copy of a movie he brought. Watch & see, this will be the next step. Its still 1939, No one believes theres a military build up in Germany....

[zoobie]

I was asked for papers once in Spain...Told them sorry...I only have a pipa.

[josetjr]

I'm from NYC, and what they accomplished was nothing new, not a big deal, and probably didn't even need those dogs. There are a ton of bootleg sellers in NYC, it is not hard to find one and get the newest hollywood movies, usually at $5 each, or 5 for $20.

But dont get confused, these bootleggers mostly sell new "theater" movies, and rarely any dvd rips of stuff legally available.

[DereX888]

Do they demote the sniffing dog into a cat status if the dog miss on something?
Where are the Animal Rights psychos to protest *employing* the animals - its a dog slavery obviously, unless they get paid?
The dogs should roam free in the wild, not sniff my arse for a smell of a burnt layers :P


BTW
I was asked for 'papers' million times in Russia alone (just in one day if you travel north LOL), as well in all of Africa, Chile, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and - surprise! - in USA too, while i.e. no one ever ask me in Cuba, no matter where I placed my butt there
Oh lets not forget good ol' North Korea, you can't even fart on the street there without getting first a "permit for foreign fart discharge in a public place" (nothing beats Korea IMHO)