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MPAA Under Investigation for Illegal NYPD Payoffs
An anonymous reader writes "The New York Post is reporting that two NYPD officers are being investigated for taking illegal payoffs from the MPAA for busting sellers of pirated DVDs. According to the article, MPAA investigators would tell the cops where pirated movies were being sold, which is perfectly legal, but, after the bust, they'd give them several hundred dollars in gratuities, which is illegal. Naturally, the MPAA denies all of this."
I'm all for free movies, but when people sell them, they should get arrested. :)
Save the bandwidth for me.
For a rightious organisation out to protect the lawfull rights of artists they have a rather odd way of practice
perpetually dwelling in the -1 pits
"The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that it loses $3.5 billion in potential worldwide revenue because of movie piracy."
Surely the can't expect that their raids of arrests will provide them with more sales.
Where they thinking that as long they're already on the red number side, they could just buy themselves some police forces?
Scully: Should we arrest David Copperfield?
Mulder: Yes we should, but not for this.
I don't know who's worse: people paying cops to enforce the law, or cops that won't enforce it unless you pay them extra.
You say they lose $x billion per year to the underground industry is ludacris, but here in a college dorm, you have NO idea the know of movies being copied and distributed. Given all of us wouldnt be buying all these, we certainly would be buying a lot more if it wasnt simply easier to download. The MPAA, like the RIAA needs to find a new buisness model involving and embracing technology if they want to survive.
April 21, 2005 -- Two NYPD veterans are being investigated by Internal Affairs for allegedly accepting payoffs from the motion-picture industry to arrest vendors of pirated DVDs, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
One officer, a sergeant on the force since 1992, has been transferred from the Staten Island Task Force to the 122nd Precinct pending the internal investigation.
The other, a cop for five years, still works on the task force.
As members of the unit, the officers, ages 36 and 32, would arrest the sellers of illegal DVDs and confiscate their stock.
Often they would act on tips from investigators with the Motion Picture Association of America, many of whom are former cops, sources said.
There is nothing improper about that practice. But on at least four occasions in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, the task force officers arrested the vendors, confiscated the illegal movies and then allegedly received gratuities of several hundred dollars from the MPAA itself or its investigators, the source said.
The MPAA strongly denied that the payoffs came from the trade organization.
"We don't give cash to police officers," said Bill Shannon, an MPAA anti-piracy official.
"We work with law-enforcement organizations by providing information and logistical support, and the police make the arrests."
No department charges have been filed against the NYPD officers, and neither is on modified duty.
The Staten Island Task Force last made headlines in 2003, when one of its members, Officer Bryan Conroy, allegedly shot and killed Ousmane Zongo, an unarmed African immigrant, inside a Manhattan storage warehouse.
Conroy and other officers were at the warehouse to bust DVD pirates.
Zongo, who spoke little English, was an innocent bystander. Conroy's trial earlier this year ended in a hung jury. He will be retried this summer.
The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that it loses $3.5 billion in potential worldwide revenue because of movie piracy.
Hollywood has stepped up its effort to bust video and DVD pirates.
An MPAA tip, for example, led to the recent prosecution of Randy Guthrie, the black sheep of a blueblood New York family, who was recently sentenced to 21/2 years in a Chinese jail for selling nearly $1 million in pirated movies over the Internet.
Telemarketer called you; you're on the do not call list?
click here
So where do you draw the line between tipping an officer for doing you a "favor" and bribing him to do you a "favor"?
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
The MPAA giving to someones campaign funds is perfectly legal, lets say a Police Chief, who then in turn is tough on copyright crimes.
Yup, business as usual.
If you were to follow that ingenious line of thought to its logical conclusion, you'd wind up with a state where the government bends over to the rich, and, oh... wait... fuck.
FTA: Two NYPD veterans are being investigated by Internal Affairs...
From title: MPAA Under Investigation for Illegal NYPD Payoffs
So, who's under investigation here?
Uh.. No Officer.. I just read it on slashdot that you accept cash.
hilarious
Are you a commie or something? What do you have against privatization of the law enforcement? It's the libertarian way and the libertarian way is also the American way.
The sad thing is, I suspect that most of the lusers of the US wouldn't argue with this statement (much).
I disagree with that policy, but I'm in the minority, apparently.
It's only an insult if it's not true.
so tack even MORE onto their record of illegal activity. Idiots.
Show this to your friends and family that don't know what a real hacker is
The MPAA and the RIAA will stop at nothing to protect their monopolies. These 2 corrupt officers are just a tip of the giant iceberg of people that recieve huge sums from the MPAA and RIAA. Some others - Several politicians, Virus writers. Yes they employ these people to create nastyware to disrupt p2p networks. and many many more people are bribed by these organizations. The MPAA and the RIAA are among the most corrupt organizations in America. And the blatantly lie about their the root cause of their losses almost every year. It is about time they are investigated but I fear they may buy out the investigation.
Presumably it was modded that way because there is no "mind-numbingly stupid" rating.
Then you get a situation where whoever pays the cops the most gets the most justice.
We already have a problem with police going after more high profile crimes involving a lot of money, rather than going after less high profile crimes which involve less money but more harm to the individual.
For example, if a little old lady is scammed out of $10,000 by a guy who says he will fix her leaking roof, that causes her a lot of harm.
In contrast, if someone distributes music online and costs the music industry $100,000, which is highly unlikely, the police will go after those guys with more vigor, even though the music industry won't feel the sting of that guy's actions much if at all.
I agree completely... and I also can't understand why we tip the servers at restaurants... I mean, if they don't do a good job shouldn't they just be fired?
I Love Alberta Beef
Perhaps the reason the MPAA and RIAA is loosing 3.5 billion is because spending the money on bent officials?
Shill!
I agree that law enforcement is a public service. However, I can't think of any public service (other than maybe the post office) where every day on the job means putting the government employee in a life-threatening situation. Every traffic stop is an opportunity for a bad guy to blow one of our public servants away. It's really fucking scary when you think of it.
We sit in our cubes or doored offices and pontificate on what we think we are owed by society, but there are men and women out there making the busts, stopping the speeders, and putting the bad guys away every day and they don't make half what we make.
Some do it because they don't have any other skills, but I think they are few and far between. Most do it out of a sense of duty. They know they are the "thin blue line" that stands between us and lawlessness. And they know that the next window they knock on may be their last.
Perhaps we expect too much when we ask them to put themselves in harm's way to save us time and again for peanuts.
So where do you draw the line between tipping an officer for doing you a "favor" and bribing him to do you a "favor"?
You don't.
So where do you draw the line between tipping an officer for doing you a "favor" and bribing him to do you a "favor"?
I tip
You bribe
The MPAA induces massive police corruption
I guess it was a "rethorical question" where no one expected an answer.
They may be bad, but they do not have monopolies. By definition, they can't be with all the freely available, legal non-pirated non-MPAA/RIAA films and music out there.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Living in New York is an expensive lifestyle. But on the other hand, New York cops really seem to enjoy themselves when it comes to corruption. Take for example last year's Republican convention. New York Cops did their best to round up thousands of people, stick them in an asbestos contaminated concentration camp and then charge them with crimes they never committed.
The Banno Story - Corrupt nyc cops lie, the DA encourages and participates in the lies.. get caught red handed
Police Perjurers
another story related to the new york DA editing/manipulating video tapes
Google the story, hundreds of cases have been dropped because the Police were inventing stories that never happened and then having the DA charge innocent people with full knowledge.
If they don't think the job is worth the pay then they need to look for a job that does.
When I shake my head at the screen and am reminded once again...
These guys (the **AA's) are a bunch of thugs.
the MPAA breaking the law to enforce the law. oh the irony.
People have been saying for years that the MPAA need to try harder to stop piracy before the movies get leaked. Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Maybe it's time they started listening.
Business Voyeur
You were going great until the last sentence. Most of them are quite well paid. Where unions are involved, they can even be overpaid. The pay level can negatively impact public safety: in order to pay them more, you have to cut down the size of the force. However, if they think the pay is too low, they should find another career rather than augment their pay with criminal activity.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
The wolf reveals it's true colours. Now do the same to the RIAA and throw all their court cases out untill further investigate (which will lead to price fixing and various other crimes being "discovered"). And since it's been proven that this companies buy people off it'll be impossible to buy off the judge/jury because people wille xpect it and if it seems fishy it'll be looked into.
Good game gentleman. You lose this round and hopefully won't come back.
I like muppets.
You're a stupid moron. This is not funny and moreover it is NOT worksafe.
The following statement is true
The preceding statement is false
If it's the first post then we've got to mod it down for SOMETHING. It's in the moderation guidlines. 'Redundant' seems as good a choice as any.
Why is it that this makes me want to do a little happy dance? :)
I bet the MPAA thought that while their actions might have been *technically* illegal, they certainly weren't hurting anybody.
Sound familiar?
Sugapablo
New York's finest paid by MPAA
Bust down your door and take your movie away!
In de car or on de horse,
They'll take your DVD's with excessive force.
Bad cops, bad cops.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
And while you're tipping him to take care of other people, how much extra is it to ignore your own illegal activities?
"Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day; set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life
However, if they think the pay is too low, they should find another career rather than augment their pay with criminal activity.
You would leave the upholding of the law to those who found nothing more available to them than the low pay offerred by the police department?
No, I would leave it to those who are in it for public service, rather than those who are in it to get rich. Besides, the pay is quite adequate.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I think we should run an ad in every movie theatre for MPAA members and affiliates to remind them that "Paying off cops is a crime". We could even show the cops who were paid off in the ad to remind them what happens if you bribe law enforcement officials as part of the cops settlement arrangement.
They want us to obey the law but forget to do it themselves. Great example guys.
You actually clicked, didn't you? And they say /.ers are supposed to be smart...
If the police force finds it can't recruit the right people with the pay structure as it is then that's a sign that pay needs to be increased. That's got nothing to do with allowing them to accept bribes.
As the VCR is fading technology, maybe we can let him do this, in exchange for his removing Jar Jar from subsequent DVD and other "Star Wars" releases.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I think you're the first to mention the "B" word. What is the problem with underpaid law enforcers from accepting tips?
Aside from the fact that they are not underpaid, there is this problem. If you have a "tip" system, pretty soon they only enforce laws to benefit those who tip them. Want that burglary investigated? Tip them, or they will "ignore it due to more pressing matters".
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
In my experience, a fifty takes care of most of my activities. Police officers are underpaid, so it rarely takes much...besides, what's a C felony between friends? For the really trivial stuff like speeding tickets, just keep a few ten-dollar Dunkin Donuts gift certificates handy. You know how cops love their donuts!
Isn't the NY Post like the Enquirer or Fox News in journalistic integrity? The article said they were being investigated, not arrested. How 'bout reserving judgement until there's an actual charge filed instead of acting like a lynch mob.
Just a thought.
You have clearly never worked in the service sector. When I worked in the state of Virginia as a waiter I earned roughly half of minimum wage. The rest was expected to be made up with tips. The federal guvment assumes you will get 8-9% of each check in tips and the IRS taxes you for it. So if you don't tip your server still has to pay the IRS taxes on that tip they didn't receive.
Please tip. If you can't afford to tip then go eat at McDonalds.
The Information Revolution will be fought on the command line.
Nope. Read the parent.
"If the pay for enforcement of the law can be overcome by the acceptance of "tips", then the base salary is too low to prevent the officers from breaking their oaths."
You make no sense here. The corruption and "we only work if you give us extra money" situation would apply even if the pay was $200,000 a year. The MPAA has big money going here. How many hundreds of thousands do you want to pay each officer a year to remove any possibility of an MPAA bribe affacting their actions?
"In addition, if someone is willing to pay extra to have extra police protection,"
That reminds me of an obvious thing I overlooked. The poor already are ignored too much when they are victims. As they would not be able to pay the tips, this problem would get much much worse.
"then how is the police officer who assents to investigating "tipped" crimes at fault for spending more time looking into those crimes than into "untipped" crimes?"
Ever hear of "to protect and to serve"? There is NOT an asterisk there that says in fine print "only protecting those who pay us extra under the table".
I thought that enforcing the law only to protect those who bribe you was universally considered to be a problem. You seem to think it is a great reform.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Increase Sales
Reduce Cost
The MPAA considers piracy to be a "cost" that they wish to control, to assist their bottom line.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
The music industry has been involved in payola for years and years, despite it being illegal. Why should they see this as anything different? They'll just come up with yet another excuse as to why this isn't payola. Is it a private gift from one individual to another, which -- totally coincidentally -- happens to be from an RIAA member to a NYPD officer? You can't prove anything! What, you want to outlaw gifts?
(In Soviet Russia, gifts outlaw YOU!)
So in other words, the minimum wage and tax systems are screwed up, so we should perpetuate them?
The tip is supposed to be paid for services above and beyond the most basic acceptable service. If a waiter doesn't provide acceptable service, it is the customer's responsibility to not only NOT TIP, but also to inform the manager of the bad service.
What is wrong in the above statement is that not tipping is only acceptable in the case of bad service. This is totally wrong, and contrary to the whole concept of tipping.
Tipping is intended as a means of a waiter/tress to earn income above and beyond what they normally earn (which is typically below minimum wage). However to earn that, it is expected, from the customer's perspective, that the waiter must perform services above and beyond what is acceptable as "normal", not what is accepted as "bad service".
I hate bad tippers. I think they are cheapskates and are ripping off good waiters. However, I have to reproach any waiter who thinks that it is my responsibility to pay him extra just for providing "adequate" service. If I wanted expected service, I would have gone to McDonalds.
Now now we all want to think the MPAA are guilty but as TFA says its an allegation thats being investigated. Even so this is hardly the break we've been waiting for - only 2 cops and they would have done their jobs anyway - why would the MPAA pay them afterwards? If it turns out that they were paid to prioritise their policing or to plant extra evidence then yes, but this seems a bit pathetic, why would the MPAA or the cops risk the PR and legal damage of this getting out for something this pathetic?
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
businesses in large cities have always tipped police in order to obtain adequate protection...
Exactly. This is not a matter of "low pay" at all: it is a matter of just plain "bad cops".
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
It's not hard to find bootleg DVDs in NYC. I can think of three places where you are likely to find someone with a selection of recent theatrical releaes lined up on a cardboard box on a Friday afternoon. The last guy I passed had Hitch, Guess Who and Beauty Shop plus at least a half dozen other titles. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with what's currently playing (and in NYC all you have to do is look up at the billboards) will recognize that these are current titles and not yet released on DVD. It usually takes a week for a big, new release to hot the bootleg table.
Mostly they display the DVD boxes on a cardboard box. Some of the guys will use a blanket so that they can just hide their wares and take off if the police show up.
Of course, it's unconscionable that the police would take bribes to enforce the law. But it's equally clear that the MPAA wasn't paying enough because those guys are in the same places week after week.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
It's not the first time the RIAA has been involved in criminal activity.
Law enforcement goes wild and imprisons students for sharing a few thousand dollars worth of mp3s. It's about time we start imprisoning music industry CEOs who steal $143 million from the public.
It doesn't have to do with smartness, I'm not at work and the filename is not enough, I had to make sure before I yell at the stupid AC. /.
Just not used to spam on
The following statement is true
The preceding statement is false
If it were an old lady who was arrested baking a pie for police officers who caught a burglar we would all laugh at how dumb our legal system was.
The MPAA gave these guys a couple free DVDs, it is not like these gifts were large sums of money.
I only tip if I get extraordinary service.
Not my problem that you are stupid enough to accept a job with such conditions! Don't like it? Get a different job!
If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
Even if they are paid 10 cents a year, that is no excuse at all for this corruption. Your proposal to overpay them becomes a sort of bribe in itself: "See? We'll pay you EXTRA in order to actually stick to the oath you swore to in the first place!"
Any cop who will pick and choose whether or not to stick to their oath based on the level or presence of bribes from the MPAA or your proposal do not belong on the force. I have yet to see a single police oath with an asterisk (fine print) that says the oath does not matter unless there are bribes to "make" it matter.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
When I worked in the state of Virginia as a waiter I earned roughly half of minimum wage
That would explain why when I visit the east coast that everyone expects exactly 15%. I got chewed out many times for just rounding to the nearest dollar in cases where I was out of small change and dollar bills and only tipped 14.25% to 14.75%. I had NO idea the employers could be so cheep and not pay their staff at least minimum wage. I guess I could be more forgiving about underpaid waitstaff demanding an extra quarter, or just not eat out in states that don't pay waitstaff at least minimum wage.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
You just cost the waiter at the next place I eat a tip. If you want waiters to receive tips, how about shutting your damned mouth?
your sick ness is leaking into your post.
Hope you have beautiful grandchildren who are
half Puerto Rican or half African American.
You might think that your being cute with those racist terms, but actually you are being very hateful. Grow up.
The huge profits that are made on movies and music are way out of line. True, there are many execs, producers, direcetors, actors and musicians who don't get wildly rich, but there are loads who do. Rich beyond all comprehension. Why? These people are simply doing a job, one that has tremndous volume. If they cut prices in half or even lower, they'd still make a spectacular living, and they'd sell a lot more. It might even keep their total revenue the same. But I for one would be a lot happier buying a DVD for $5. I suspect many would, and wouldn't resort to buying cheesy bootlegs.
I do wish they'd lose that "penny-wise, pound-foolish" attitude.
Why not just hit the root of the problem: make the penalties for accepting bribes much stiffer? This is much better: the law enforcement system gets money from the penalty payments, and they don't have to cut back on the size of the force in order to pay for a huge pay raise in an ill-conceived attempt to make it so a few bad apples might feel less incentive to break their oaths.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
and yet you see the same ho's lined up on the same corners night after night, no matter how many times the cops bust em.. the fact of the matter is the guys selling pirated dvds on street corners are probabbly drug addicts, and need the easy money to score some more hits.. you really can't stop criminals from commiting crimes, because there are always new people becoming criminals due to circumstances. our society respects individual rights so much that it makes genuine lock downs of authority difficult. it's not like we have a society where it's traditional for individuals to have no freedom..
An MPAA tip, for example, led to the recent prosecution of Randy Guthrie, the black sheep of a blueblood New York family, who was recently sentenced to 21/2 years in a Chinese jail for selling nearly $1 million in pirated movies over the Internet.
Why don't they just say 10.5 years?
You're SUPPOSED to tip police officers, it's only common courtesy.
thanks for the "do not call" link. i've been getting more and more calls during the day, and they seem shocked when i tell them that we are already on the do not call list... I'm going to just taking down the company name and number, and telling them that i'm reporting them right at that moment :)
once you go slack, you never go back
How much does this great service cost? I can think of people I would like to have arrested...
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
probably getting the price of each dvd/ vcd/ "whatever form" down will be a realistic start. few years back they would cite that they need to pay the artiste's royalty, stockist, dealers, wearhouse, transport, associates to be paid off the Marked price of the movie on sale. but now they do not see the same - nor cite the reasons where the money is spent on - in online sales. they sell the same tunes/ movies online for the full cost they previously used to sel the same minus the infrastructure and associate payoffs! well, they are fully responsible for the piracy themselves!
Next thing you know they start paying politicians to change laws.
Oh shit, nevermind...
"Couldn't hit the delete key fast enough" - the pirate's post
"What a waste of bandwidth" - Copying News Network
"Wasn't worth the 2 cd's I burnt it on" - the bandwidth tribune
Wayyyy OT, but I just thought of those, thought it might give someone a chuckle.
I thought that you meant that we should hire the best police officers possible.
I didn't realize you thought that we should hire those officers most afraid of the "stick".
I intended to argue for a better "carrot" but you were intent on arguing for a better "stick".
We are not at odds. I think that the penalty of losing the carrot should outweigh the benefit of taking a bribe. You think that the penalty for taking a bribe should outweight the benefit for upholding the law.
We are arguing at each other when it is clear we have completely opposite and irreconcilable differences in opinion.
Though when I'm in the US I do try to remember that the waiters really are serfs and if I don't tip they'll starve. What a lovely system you guys have...
--
USA: home of the world's largest terrorist training camp.
Maybe it is just me, but I think DVD prices are decently low right now (for the most part). I was just at a store yesterday and saw a huge selection of recent discs, new, for $7.50 each. Sure, the new ones are espensive when they first come out, but the prices often drift down.
I aay "for the most part" because I'd like to get those Babylon 5 sets sometime, and they are still very expensive.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Real goods I'd say is the line.
Offering a cup of tea or a slice of cake = no problem. You're being polite
Offering anything with a value above a light snack = bribe IMO.
"Are you sure you don't want to have a drink or a peice of cake?" = acceptable
"Here having some DVDs, a bag of money with a $ sign on it and a new diamond plated watch" = bribe
I like muppets.
Am I a serf?
If he's a Briton and waiting tables then he's probably not of royal blood, so he is indeed a serf by the standards of free men today.
You're a serf, too, so here's a gentle reminder not to talk to your betters the way you did in your post.
Absolutely. But, while paying them more can get better officers, that is not the most of it. Corruption and bribery scandals happen at the top of the law enforcement pay scale (between $100,000 and $200,000 for big cities). Surely these are not poverty wages, yet these big chiefs/leaders/etc still take bribes.
"I intended to argue for a better "carrot" but you were intent on arguing for a better "stick"."
When you swear an oath, you swear an oath. No "carrot" should be necessary, or the oath is worthless.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Don't get the two mixed up.
The RIAA is a criminal cartel that buys their own cops
The MPAA is a criminal cartel that buys their own laws
(oh and if any lawyers representing either of those organisations are reading this, please sue me for sying that, I'd just love the chance see the expression on your faces when a judge agrees with me)
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
,i>When you swear an oath, you swear an oath. No "carrot" should be necessary, or the oath is worthless.
You have more faith in human nature than I have.
I hate to make a big deal of who I am, but as Santa Claus, I have a pretty good idea of of who is naughty and who is nice (I gots da lists).
If you think that the Nice list outnumbers the Naughty list, you've got another thing coming. (You've been good (enough) so far this year, if it matters.)
Shhhh. Don't anger the Canadians. For some reason, they get all snitty when you call this tax a tax.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
No they're not. Candy costs about 55 cents a bar now, when it used to be about 33 cents when I was a kid. Does this mean if I were to shoplift a candy bar, it's the store's fault? Or the candy manufacturer?
While I'm certainly not defending the MPAA's actions or saying that things are hunky dory, their shitty actions are not a reasonable justification to steal.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
Japan, too. Basically in any civilized country tipping is considered an insult.
Bribing the police is as american as Apple pie and rigging elections.
(that was a joke)
Seriously though It is the job of the police to uphold the peace and act when someone violates criminal law (or upona court order) so i have no idea why they would be prosecuting people who violate civil laws.
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
I believe that waiting tables in the US is the closest you will come to pure capitalism anywhere. You tip based on their performance. If they suck, you pay them nothing, but if they provide excellent service, you pay them well. I've been known to give 200% tips for excellent service.
But most countries are socialist-leaning, so I'm not surprised you think so lowly of people who actually have to "sing for their supper".
That's the way it is in most places outside the US.
Your really liked the tolerance lessons at school, didn't you? Good pupil you are.
Notice what the man from the MPAA said:
-->
"We don't give cash to police officers," said Bill Shannon, an MPAA anti-piracy official.
--
Isn't that an odd way of putting a "denial"?
So Billy, what kind of gratuities do you actually use if not cash?
In some eastern Europe communist country, there used to be signs in caf*s "Tipping is an insult". But when someone didn't tip, waiters would ask, shocked, "you don't insult me???"...
Apparently have the Swedish "Antipiratbyrån" (read Antipirate-Bureau) has been doing some not-so-legal stuff when they not long ago raided the swedish ISP Bahnhof.
Bahnhof states that hey planted evidence through a informer inside the ISP. They payed for the servers which then was filled with warez, mp3s and such.
Then they come and raided the stuff and now they're under investigation by the swedish government computer agency (which might lead to police investigation, i hope!).
FYI, the "Antipiratbyrån" is a non-government agency which are funded by Sony and other recordcompanies and the like.
Just because there is a single non-RIAA record company doesn't mean there isn't monopoly.
Microsoft Windows is considered a monopoly, yet there are plenty of alternatives available.
I don't think you understand what is meant by "monopoly".
"He is the one who called Condoleezza Rice the Bush administration's "House nigger" after all. I don't trust him, but that is just my opinion."
Condoleezza may be a useful idiot and the ugliest* goddamned woman in Washington, but it has nothing to do with her race.
If she were white, she'd still be an idiot and goddamned ugly*.
----
*(look everybody is allowed to be a little ugly, but she abuses the privledge)
" Now now we all want to think the MPAA are guilty but as TFA says its an allegation thats being investigated."
Isn't this similar to the record and movie companies who want to get info from ISP's about alleged copyright infringement without going to a court of law?
The media companies have *seen* people stealing, so they assume people guilty and want to just fine them directly without doing that long, involved courtroom stuff.
Am I the only one who sees the irony here?
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
That really drives me up the wall. The idea that the IRS needs to extract taxes from someone who isn't even paid minimum wage. Rather than people who actually earn more money than they need for survival. The working poor shouldn't even be taxed.
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
Not his fault. His department probably rejects anyone who scores too high on the entrance exam as they do here (scroll down a few stories).
That's like Yugo telling Ferrari how to make cars.
"What a lovely system you guys have..."
What's ironic is that waiters in the U.S. in the smallest, cheesiest diner are better than waiters in England. in pretty much everywhere except the most expensive restaurants.
Waiters in England will rarely check on you to see if you need more drinks, food problems, more condiments. In the U.S. even in Denny's you get better service.
Now, I agree with the spirit of your post, but I think England is a bad example.
P.S. The food ain't none too good either in England, except for pubs, which have decent tasty food.
or they could stop making shitty movies like daredevil and troy
The only cop I would ever expect to surf Slashdot is Robocop.
Cheers, officer. Just having a funny.
blog
Hey if you want better law enforcement you gotta pay for it.
To paraphrase:
The wheel that pays gets the grease.
The quote is from The Shield (warning: link has heavy use of flash) which is (sadly) one of the best shows on television right now.
While Vic Mackey is the main character, the quote was actually said by Claudette Wyms; a black detective who is justifying the excessiveness of Vic to the police captain.
I would actually say that this is on-topic simply for the fact that FX is, of course, FOX which is a member of the MPAA and "The Shield" is about cops going above the law.
I'd say they've chosen a much more efficient method of getting their policies enforced.
What a lovely system you guys have...
Actually, the system in place in much of the US is fairly recent (for someone old as myself). When I was a bus boy in the mid 1980s, I was paid minimum wage PLUS tips.
In the mid 1980s, there was a big hoodeehaw whipping around the Federal tax code and one of the blustering gusts was whether employees who received gratuities should declare tips as income. Reagan and his supporters successfully redefined tips as declarable income, which change enabled employers to pay less than minimum wage as long as customers made up the difference. If a service industry employee does not make an average of minimum wage for a shift (or is it a pay period?) then the employer must kick in enough for that employee to have been making minimum wage.
Given this extremely owner-favorable and employee-indifferent system, I'm surprised the champions and defenders of business have not moved to make gratuity-based occupations simply wage free.
blog
Duh, obviously you've never really thought it through. I tip all the time and for one reason only. To ensure that I receive the level of service I'm comfortable with. By tipping large, I expect and receive better service. It's simply basic economics. I suggest you at least try it at your favorite eatery.
One of the first times I went onsite, my manager paid a lavish tip upfront to the concierge, the maid and the hotel coffee shop waitress. The service we received was exceptional and allowed us privileges and services we'd have never received otherwise. It turned out to be a wise investment when on the last day we had to rush to attend a crucial unscheduled meeting.
Pay to play, or go home.
Words to men, as air to birds.
I knew I'd get called on it, but it's really 6 of one, half a dozen of the other in this case.
Justification of an illegal action because of the MPAA's actions with the police.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
I'm a Brit and I like to complain about the crappy service I get.
This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
FTFA: "We don't give cash to police officers,"
We'll give out cars, credit cards, movie screener tickets, anything but cash!
Illegal? Samir, This is America.
Just remember: 20%, of the total - tax, and not a penny less!
I don't get it.
Why is it that I am the only one who seems to understand that we need to go back to harsh punishments for powerful people (e.g., politicians, CEO's, etc) who are obviously crooked. We need to try, convict and sentence all this powerful and corrupt people. Sentence them to death by hanging.
That is the only way to swing the pendulum back, to correct the culture.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
I know this is flamebait and I should not respond but I still will...
No, you shouldn't perpetuate a system you believe is wrong. However, that also does not mean you penalize someone trying to make a living under that unjust system! If you see something wrong, do something that has a snowball's chance of CHANGING the situation. Don't be a cheapskate and then claim that you are "fighting against unjust laws;" your waiter, who often works very hard for your money (which you may not even see half of - it's a waiter's job to make it all seem effortless), won't be very impressed with your supposed moral fiber.
"Life is tough but we're tougher. You only get what you give, so give all that you've got." --Tony LaRussa
For someone like a police officer or teacher or other public servant, the tips are more complicated. I believe in the US the law is you are not supposed to tip. The base and overtime pay is all the compensation. Some may think it is not enough, but the contract and licensing forces you to formally agree.
OTOH, every coffeehouse, every corner market gives away free coffee and food. This is good because if gives the police a place to hang out, and makes the surrounding 100 feet safer, but what about the little shop down the street that does not have anything cheap to offer?
The parent post is correct. Tipping your waitstaff, especially if you are planning to return, a la Hemmingway, is good. But Police are supposed to protect equally, and it is human nature to favor those that give you free things.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I find it amazing what people believe is needed to garner appreciation. If you get extraordinary service, yes you tend to notice and pay well. But sometimes what you see as "adequate" service (in some restaurants) takes just as much or more effort and desire on the part of your server.
Anyone who complains about tipping - I suggest you spend even a short amount of time waiting tables or some other sort of hospitality or service job. I guarantee you will tip more generously after that experience.
"Life is tough but we're tougher. You only get what you give, so give all that you've got." --Tony LaRussa
Im completely seriously.
If we can prove a pattern of bribery to police(the payoffs in more than one city or more than one instance).
We can ask a federal prosecutor to charge the MPAA
under the RICO act and seize THEIR assets. If you can get a conviction under the RICO act you can seize the assets of their members.
The self-avowed members of the MPAA include
Disney
Sony
Paramount
Fox
Universal
We can apply forfeiture laws to their membership.
A story that isn't a dupe? On slashdot? These days?
Wow. Just... wow.
I think.
I thought the mafia used to do that paying policemen trick.
Good to seee the 'good guys' learning from the corrupt.
Send Peter Clifford Francis Macrae comdoms to 23 Bedford St, St.Neots, PE19 1AX, England
It's perfectly legal, even required, to bribe lawmakers by contributing to their re-election campaigns. But those same lawmakers will pretend indignation when they hear this story about police officers receiving kickbacks. They will probably pass a new law or two to curb this disgusting practice and then posture about campaign finance reform.
It's broke dammit!
kinch
http://returnself.com/blog/
And whoever pays the politicians the most gets the laws and tax breaks they want.
You're just learning about corruption now?
Nasty site there. Their current news item is fawning all over the fascist dictator of Venezuela, and even lauds him for seeking to get more weaponry. All the better to shoot those who disagree with you.
The OP was funny because it took advance of a typo. Apparently you forgot to 'emerge -uD funnybone' this morning.
I live in Sweden. There's a stand at the mall with DVD movies for 7.5usd each, and they did have some interesting oldies, like Hellraiser.
Next step is 13usd, I found Virus and Aliens for this price.
Most movies are around 22usd.
New movies like Robots, AvP, Van Helsing are usually 29usd, so I rent for 7.5usd or just skip seeing them.
New games can be around 80usd here, so I play Star Control 2 (UQM) and other great free games instead.
(I got the high prices from converting the SEK to USD. The USD used to be 11SEK but is now 7)
The Chair Corp. comic(*00-12)
Granted, the title I was hawking didn't help...
--- The American Way of Life is not a birthright. Hell, it's not even sustainable.
Thank you Mr. Orwell. Which one of Kim Il Sung's speeches did you lift this from?
Geez, NYC cops are incredibly lazy.
Here are two prime locations where you can get bootleg DVDs:
* near Century 21 downtown (behind Trinity Church)
* near South Streeet Seaport. Specifically, Fulton street
That wasn't so hard, was it?
Instead of giving them "gratuities" they should have classified it as "walking around money." That way Democrats wouldn't be able to criticize them, because they'd be criticizing their own party's methods.
They are anything but anti-war. Pro-Saddam, maybe, or pro-terrorist. The situation in Iraq BEFORE the US invasion was anything but peace: with Saddam executing tens of thousands of civilians each year, and funding terrorists who were engaged in a war of aggression against Israel.
who would've thought that crooked cops and crooked justice would exist in a capitalist society. I thought our motto was "everything has its price"
You are probably not in the US, where the media are the least controlled and the most diverse of any in the world.
Though when I'm in the US I do try to remember that the waiters really are serfs and if I don't tip they'll starve. What a lovely system you guys have...
Thanks, we learned it from you. You should see Canada, it's almost impossible to get change.
Don't think of waitstaff as surfs... they are your equal. But do think if you don't tip them they will starve. Many states allow below minimum wage for waitstaff making them totally dependent on the charity of others. Sometimes they don't get paid at all. Almost all are taxed on tips whether they get them or not.
It's a horrid system, if it makes you feel any better after a 15% tip and 7% tax it's exactly what you would expect from home, but instead most is going in the pocket of the person who served you. In fact, a friend of mine often jokes about the fact that in our pubs, everything seems so much cheaper but after the tip it's exactly what he expects to spend at home.
I will pay a bounty of $10,000 per MPAA employee conviction following your investigation into these crimes.
Reply to this post for more information.
Thank you,
A Concerned and Independently Wealthy Citizen
The dvd producers don't get the TV show footage for free. Either it's considered as part of the initial revenue stream (the DVD is produced by the same company) or there are licensing rights to be bought.
DVD rights for TV shows are no different from DVD rights for movies.
Nah. Show me one in a prison cell saying "I'm serving a hard 60 to life because I greenlighted Gigli."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
There is another way : increase the perceived value and therefore retail price of the products you are trying to sell.
The demand for movies, like music, seems to be quite inelastic. Hence the price differential across the economic regions.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Thank you for quoting the posts you're replying to. I makes for much better reading :-)
Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.
You are one stingy cocksucker.
I can't wait for the reenactment of this on NYPD BLUE
I've been led to believe it is not only legal, but common, to pay off police, lawyers, courts and the politicians that provably are above the law. I have seen many examples of this.
Now I'm told it's not legal anymore?
What's next? Microsoft releasing NT under the GNU GPL? Cats and dogs paw in paw?
I'm against the MPAA for the reasons you enumerated in your analogy, but I'm not allowed to set them on fire.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
I usually tip 100% for a coffee at a coffee house, and 25% for alcoholic beverages in a bar (though I can't stand it when I order two single malts for myself and a friend at $8 each, pay the bartender with a twenty, and it's assumed that I'll leave the $4 change as a tip).
I once paid an animal groomer 100% on a $50 fee to give our Persian cat a "lion cut" shave: it used to be the case that we had to anesthetize him for this at the vet's, and the bill routinely ran to $250. When we found a groomer that our cat liked, I happily offered to pay double if she could do the job from start to finish, with the cat awake, without giving up. (Long-hair Persions need to be periodically shaved, lest their hair get matted, even with regular brushing. They are not a practical breed, but make very good pets (and are particularly patient with kids) otherwise).
I do not tip when it is not customary to do so or would be considered an insult.
My mantra is to treat people that serve me with greater respect than I might accord those who do not need to perform such "lowly" or "degrading" work: if it is something I would not wish to do myself, then I should be particularly grateful that someone is willing to do it for me (and this is independent of how I tip -- I'm refering to simple curtesys like saying "please" and "thank you" -- too many just yell "waiter!" when they want service). However, I have little patience for incompetence -- if I treat someone in the service industry like a professional, they should act like one. There is no dishounour in earning an honest living, no matter how humble it might be. Teaching this to my kids, however, is a challenge.
You could've hired me.
I'd love to see people quit rushing to make a useless first post.
This post is the troll and the parent is "offtopic?" Something's rotten in the state of /.
Who do you think authorizes the police? Who do you think funds them? No idea? The lawmakers. They have plenty of power here.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Unless an observer managed to view the protest from an aerial point of view (nothing to block your line of sight), any opinion of the protest made on the ground can easily be made to EXTREMELY bias. You didn't see anything at your protests? Fine, but can you vouch for the thousands of other people you saw taking part as well?
they also get to take home whatever DVDs they want, and they let other city workers (sanitation, housing, transit) do the same. So instead of the street sellers making whatever profit by selling them, they still get distributed to the public by confiscation & redistribution instead.
One wonders why a person with an anti-American .sig and repeated nonsensical anti-American posts is browsing American technological web sites. I can't imagine a reason other than to troll.
Let me explain how this works.
The federal government has two different minumum wages. One is the "standard" that most of us are aware of, which is $5.15/hr.
The other is a wage given to employees whose income is generated primarily from tips. This is $2.13/hr.
The reason there are two distinct wages is because employeers who hire service works are given a "tipping credit," meaning that they can pay a smaller hourly wage as long as the combination of the earned tips and the wages meet the standard. For restaurateurs, this is important, because it minimizes the costs of running a restaurant, which is not cheap.
However, a few states, like Washington, have a much higher minimum wage, and no tipping credit. In this state, it's not unusual for service workers at places like Applebees to make over $20/hr
For this reason, I despise tipping in states that have no tipping credit. A tip is gratuity, not a requirement, and the cost of my service is included in the price of my meal.
*cough* Bloody Sunday *cough*
Excuse me, I had a bit of hypocrisy caught in my throat. Have you forgotten all about "the Troubles" and what it did to rights in the UK? I'm no fan of what's going on in the US right now, but maybe you should get off your high horse.
Screw tipping I'm eating my meal and leaving, and they'll never know who I am because I'm never coming back again!!!!! Mwahahaa.
I don't agree with it, I don't do it, but it is not theft.
Theft - "appropriation of property belonging to another, with the intention to permanently deprive". Thanks to the lassie for that (handy having a live-in lawyer).
In techincal terms, you're duplicating. In legal terms, you're not depriving - you've not 'stolen' and money from them - they never had it to begin with.
It is copyright infringment, but that's all. Over in the US I believe you get more time for this than you do for manslaughter. You craaazy americans. Gotta love you all.
STFU
As someone who works closely with several police departments on occassion, I can assure all of you that the vast majority of police departments just don't care about piracy.
I know of several cases where machines were searched using forensic investigation tools for email records, child pornography, or other clues in "real life" crime, but that the vast number of illegal MP3s were quickly sifted and disregarded.
Its simple: Most departments barely have enough money to prevent/address the real problems, and padding the pockets for the MPAA really doesn't fit into it.
Hmmm...Let's see..according to our generally accepted accounting practices, the loss of 3.5 billion dollars is really the result of losing $25.38 from the potential sales of Gigli DVDs.
I wish you all could see the smile this story brought to my weathered old face, and the way my sunken eyes sprang back to life. now excuse me, I have better "uses" for this bandwidth.
Obama is a twitter sock puppet
The MPAA (and I would venture most corps) operates entirely for profit and sees the law only in terms of an obstacle or vehicle toward that end.
If a law stands in the way of profit you lobby or outright bribe congressmen to change it. In some cases you might even be able live with the consequences and ignore the law. Sometimes it's easier to just bribe the cops, and you can't tell me that in a corporation like the MPAA funds large enough to bribe cops get released without a corporate policy.
The mob operates for a profit, it will do what it feels will gain a profit despite the law. The mob bribes senators and cops where it makes sense. The mob will operate legally if there is a profit to be made as well. What is the difference?
I think the MPAA would prefer you to word it as "tipping an officer as a gesture of gratitude".
They would also probably prefer we not consider behavioural theories featuring concepts like 'positive reinforcement'.
Police Dispatcher: "MPAA reports pirated DVDs being sold at Oak and Main."
Two dozen cars call in saying they're on it.
Loose lips lose spit.
There is another way : increase the perceived value and therefore retail price of the products you are trying to sell.
:)
And the result of that is increased sales. Thanks for playing.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
What's really kind of funny, in a way, is that a -1 post can inspire a whole lot of +5 posts. In all honesty, wouldn't the point of a moderation system be to reward posts that are a) interesting/funny/etc, and b) inspire responses that are?
I'm really tempted to try incorporating the score of child posts into the parent's overall standing. That way, some of the more interesting comments wouldn't be blackholed down near -1.
Wonder if a system like that would work.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Obviously police compensation should be dependent on them doing what we want. We certainly have an excess of lawyers doing pro bono patent defense.
Consider someone waiting tables at an expensive restaurant. We are talking about several hundred dollars in a shift, which is pretty far from 'working poor'.
It is not unheard of for restaurants to auction off shifts to servers, essentially creating a *negative* base pay situation, but tips are certain to be large enough to make it still worthwhile for the server.
People who are poor are not in practice taxed much. Add up the child credit, earned income credit, and the basic deduction, and tax drops fast.
You're kidding us right? You don't see the difference between being a waiter for a private company & being an employee of the local or federal governments? Taxpayers have already paid (too much, for not enough) for all of their services. WTF should we have to pay them MORE, as individual citizens per-event in order for them to do their job?
"The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that it loses $3.5 billion in potential worldwide revenue because of movie piracy. Emphasis added.
WTF does that mean? I know that in wrongful death lawsuits, it is common to claim the deceased's earning potential when figuring out damages, but how do the **AA's justify the same thing. Maybe I will just disregard the fact that I was lazy in school and proceed to sue all of my previous teachers claiming that the stuff they taught was "just too hard," and as a result of my not being able to comprehend that stuff, I have lost potentially billions and billions of dollars in earning potential. (There's that word again)
Put into that context, it sounds a little silly doesn't it? Now read the first line of my post again and see if it doesn't seem silly as well.
Mr. T pitied this fool on 27 July 1992.
Copyright violation is more like trespassing than theft, anyway.
You have clearly never worked in the service sector. When I worked in the state of Virginia as a waiter I earned roughly half of minimum wage. The rest was expected to be made up with tips.
Maybe if you brought me my breadsticks when they were still warm, and didn't go on break just when I wanted the check, you would have gotten that tip. It's not my fault that you chose to work for scraps and the charity of others. Get a real job.
The MPAA considers piracy to be a "cost" that they wish to control, to assist their bottom line.
The MPAA, like the RIAA, knows that "piracy" costs are fictional numbers based on wishes, hopeful short-term trends, bad logic, ignoring the economy, and whatever else they can dump before paid-for congresscritters to justify new legislation to further their stranglehold on the market. The *AA have now bypassed normal market forces and are using the U.S. legislature to guarantee their profit and success. It is a total bastardization of the process. People rightly feared the military-industrial complex, but it appears the legislative-entertainment complex is far more dangerous to our individual rights and freedom. Mickey Mouse is no longer the cute character I saw as a child - now he has a hand in my pocket and a bodyguard of lawyers to make sure I don't complain.
And they comprise what section of the industry? Sure as heck, since income tax is based on income, those servers that are making that kind of a "killing", still have to pay taxes. And even then, the only thing positive you can say is that 1% may make more than a taxi driver.
More rationalization. What if I don't have a dependent? Even worse, what if I did? The basic deduction is meaningless. Its just a scam built into the system to distract the payer into thinking they are paying less taxes, like whether to cover your bet on a craps table. The trick is not to be gambling in the first place.
There is no rational argument to be jacking down a server's income to below minimum wage. What makes food servers less worthy of salary than someone manning a register? Its counting on a tradition of tipping to subsidize a restaurant owner's operational costs. If one can't make enough money to ensure a roof over their head, food on the table, and living expenses (clothing, phone, and electricity), why should they even be taxed?
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
"Dawn Crescent" looks interesting. However, there are flaws in the "blurb" on the page. The Gulf War was not designed by George Bush (the First) to ensure his re-election. It was not designed by him at all, in fact. It was started by Saddam Hussein. Bush the elder actually gave Saddam plenty of time and ample warning to pull back out of Kuwait and back to the Iraqi border.
I think the accurate Gargamel quote should be "Those damned smurfs".
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Who ever mentioned stealing? The subject concerned illegal copies. I defy you go find a story about the MPAA cracking down on DVD theft. You might find some, but they are kind of rare.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
How about; they don't even want you to buy DVD's? This is what the "region code system" does. I have to actually crack my purchased Region 2 disc to watch a copy on my Region 1 player.
The difference is, that while he robs and brutalizes and takes away rights and consolidates dictatorial powers, he says "he is doing it to help the poor". That is enough for some who only look at words not deeds.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
mod the parent up, its true. No one tips other than the USA. Also, USA things are so expensive and sucky, US dollar is still overvalued. sell your $$$ folks
then why are they waiters? usually they know how to groom themslves well to become hookers or gigolos. Let the homeless people work below minimum wage.
So that is why the Beijing bandits want to invade Taiwan and destroy it!
I think the original poster's comment was a more general question, as in "Why have we allowed the codifying into law of this system wherein a gratuity payment is expected to be a source of regular income?" We know that tips have been turned into a way for employers to shift employment expenses directly onto the customer, but what government dirtbags have legitimized this disgusting practice?
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
Esteban Carpio and Abner Louima got to see police revenge in action. No trial, just beaten within an inch of their lives. With Abner Louima the NYC Police department repeatedly raped his by jambing a toilet plunger in his anus while yelling "Take this, nigger". And these are the ones that lived.
I'm sorry, but the police are a cancer on society. And before anyone says I don't understand I was once a LEO assigned to the US Marshall's Office for three years (among other duties). Most cops are nothing more than stupid animals that couldn't think for themselves if they're life depended on it. While there are many exceptions including some excellent police officers, it is clearly not the norm.
Remember this: next time you get pulled over remember who has their hand on a service issued firearm and who is unarmed. Does it make you feel a little scared? If there's a disagreement are they going to believe you or the cop?
Check out the moive "The Thin Blue Line" (1988). It's about how the police framed Randall Dale Adams for the murder of a police officer. He's was weeks from execution before the truth can out and freed.
Many cops carry "throwaway pieces", handguns and knifes that can't be traced back to them so if they kill someone they have an excuse. Back in the '80s I spent some time riding with the Washington DC PD and reported to an officer shooting a suspect. The officer claimed the suspect (now quite dead) had a knife. An Inspector came out, didn't see a knife and said he'd back in five minutes. When he returned there were now four knifes under the body. It seems a few "people" grabbed their throwaway knifes and kicked it under the body without checking to see if someone else had already done it. The Inspecter saw the knifes and closed the case as a justifed shooting. Maybe it would've been different if the kid (16 years old) wasn't black and didn't live in public housing.
Welcome to Amerika.
Abner Louima: NYC officer arrested in alleged sexual attack on suspect
Esteban Carpio: No bail for suspect in detective's shooting
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity but they've always worked for me" - HST
Sure, if copyright infringement were actually immoral. It is _illegal_, but that is not the same thing as immoral.
But what the MPAA is alleged to have done (bribing law enforcement agents) is definitely immoral, and damaging to society (as is any type of corruption in law enforcement). And if they're willing to act in such an immoral fashion, then why should anyone listen to them seriously when _they_ complain that other peoples' behavior is immoral?
Really? Do you still support the ACLU even when it fights against civil liberties? Examples are the numerous cases where it fights to censor religious expression by individuals. They also have an entire division devoted to promotion of "affirmative action" policies designed to punish individuals for having the wrong skin color. I'd join the ACLU in a heartbeat if not for the fact that it fights for censorship and wants the government to discriminate on the basis of skin color.
It's a tax, and a form of corporate welfare. Consider that the government forces you to pay it! The only difference between this, and a tax that goes to subsidize corporations is that the forced/stolen/etc money goes directly to the corporate fatcats, and does not pass through the government along the way.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I've been the victim of financial crimes twice in the past two years. Both times, law enforcement wouldn't give me the time of day. Both times, I had a desire to know who was behind the crime and how it was done so that I could avoid being a victim in the future. I would have paid for that information. One time, I did -- I hired a private investigator. But the private investigator couldn't get to all the information a law enforcement officer could. And, of course, there was no justice served.
(Side note on copyrights: I support the notion of copyrights for a "limited time" (as proscribed by the U.S. Constitution) -- such as the 14+14 years of the Copyright Act of 1790. Presumably, pirated DVDs would have fallen under the Copyright Act of 1790, and so I support the prosecution of the DVD pirates. I even support the MPAA paying for the law enforcement. I don't support the individual officers pocketing the MPAA money -- it should have gone into the treasury to reduce taxes.)
That's why we won't see "WKRP in Cincinnatti" on DVD anytime soon.. too much red tape and prohibitive costs in licensing the music.
The show aired *years* ago, but royalties and licensing fees still have to be paid just to put the show on DVD.
There was an article about this on Salon (I think) recently. So, that's one good reason why DVDs are still kinda costly.. they're paying the goddamn RIAA their extortion fees. Ugh.
Why not call it what it is: the death tax? "but by calling it the death tax republicans managed to convince people who will never have to pay it to fight against it"
I sure as hell will never have to pay it, but I think it is ridiculous: unnecessary government greed punishing you for having the temerity to die.
"Maybe some people do have a philisophical opposition to a tax that only effects the richest people in America"
That is misleading. The vast majority of those affected by it are small farmers and small business owners. The small farmers especially are not rich, but their farmland is counted as a vast $$$ estate: and the death tax punishes them. So yes, people do have a philosophical opposition to a tax that punishes family farmers.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Oh. This is CBS News. The network that bases major scoop Presidential campaign stories on Microsoft Word documents from the early 1970s. This CBS story on cops the mafia you linked to.... I wonder if part of their evidence includes DVD-R's which were burned in 1981 and contain incriminating video files.
How long before Dan Rather resurfaces with the final word on the JFK assassination: the damning list of CIA e-mail contacts found in Jack Ruby's Blackberry.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I'm a Brit and we generally don't tip.
As an American, I found that I didn't really have to change my tipping habits when I visited England. In America, I always tip unless the service is exremely poor. Luckily, applying that standard in England naturally resulted in me conforming to the local custom of not tipping.
Videos Challenge Accounts of Convention Unrest
By Jim Dwyer
The New York Times
Tuesday 12 April 2005
Dennis Kyne put up such a fight at a political protest last summer, the arresting officer recalled, it took four police officers to haul him down the steps of the New York Public Library and across Fifth Avenue.
"We picked him up and we carried him while he squirmed and screamed," the officer, Matthew Wohl, testified in December. "I had one of his legs because he was kicking and refusing to walk on his own."
Accused of inciting a riot and resisting arrest, Mr. Kyne was the first of the 1,806 people arrested in New York last summer during the Republican National Convention to take his case to a jury. But one day after Officer Wohl testified, and before the defense called a single witness, the prosecutor abruptly dropped all charges.
During a recess, the defense had brought new information to the prosecutor. A videotape shot by a documentary filmmaker showed Mr. Kyne agitated but plainly walking under his own power down the library steps, contradicting the vivid account of Officer Wohl, who was nowhere to be seen in the pictures. Nor was the officer seen taking part in the arrests of four other people at the library against whom he signed complaints.
A sprawling body of visual evidence, made possible by inexpensive, lightweight cameras in the hands of private citizens, volunteer observers and the police themselves, has shifted the debate over precisely what happened on the streets during the week of the convention.
For Mr. Kyne and 400 others arrested that week, video recordings provided evidence that they had not committed a crime or that the charges against them could not be proved, according to defense lawyers and prosecutors.
Among them was Alexander Dunlop, who said he was arrested while going to pick up sushi.
Last week, he discovered that there were two versions of the same police tape: the one that was to be used as evidence in his trial had been edited at two spots, removing images that showed Mr. Dunlop behaving peacefully. When a volunteer film archivist found a more complete version of the tape and gave it to Mr. Dunlop's lawyer, prosecutors immediately dropped the charges and said that a technician had cut the material by mistake.
Seven months after the convention at Madison Square Garden, criminal charges have fallen against all but a handful of people arrested that week. Of the 1,670 cases that have run their full course, 91 percent ended with the charges dismissed or with a verdict of not guilty after trial. Many were dropped without any finding of wrongdoing, but also without any serious inquiry into the circumstances of the arrests, with the Manhattan district attorney's office agreeing that the cases should be "adjourned in contemplation of dismissal."
So far, 162 defendants have either pleaded guilty or were convicted after trial, and videotapes that bolstered the prosecution's case played a role in at least some of those cases, although prosecutors could not provide details.
Besides offering little support or actually undercutting the prosecution of most of the people arrested, the videotapes also highlight another substantial piece of the historical record: the Police Department's tactics in controlling the demonstrations, parades and rallies of hundreds of thousands of people were largely free of explicit violence.
Throughout the convention week and afterward, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that the police issued clear warnings about blocking streets or sidewalks, and that officers moved to arrest only those who defied them. In the view of many activists - and of many people who maintain that they were passers-by and were swept into dragnets indiscriminately thrown over large groups - the police strategy appeared to be designed to sweep them off the streets on technical grounds as a show of force.
"The
"course you're entitled to your opinion on whether it's theft or infringement - but so is everyone else." If you have an opinion that duplication of DVD's is theft, you are not entitled to it, because this opinion is incorrect.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I know. Once they see your teeth, they give you very bad service.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
er, no. Inelastic demand is when sales remain static as the price changes.
Thanks for playing =)
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Yes it can, if it is factually wrong. It has nothing to do with whether or not it suits me. It just has to do with the facts at hand.
Example: "Jupiter has much less mass than Mars"
It cannot be any less valid. It is a wrong opinion.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
head over to the pirate bay and see for your self.
Check their funny pages too http://static.thepiratebay.org/legal/
Since we're talking about profit, I consider increased sales in terms of dollar figures. You're referring to unit volume. Good game. :)
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
I approve Chavez obtaining weapons. Yes. What, you don't believe in the right to carry arms? What happened to the 2nd Amendment?
I like chavez cuz he gives land and money to help the people. Sow the Oil, etc.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
That's why you get crappy service.
Probably depends on the legality of the "favor".
"Arrest my neighbor, officer. They stole that lawn ornament in their front yard from my front yard" isn't quite the same as "I don't like my neighbor, how about "accidentally" emptying your clip into them?".
What I want to know, though, is, isn't selling unauthorized copies of movies a federal crime? Why isn't the MPAA bribing, I mean tipping, the FBI or some other federal enforcement agents?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
The exercise here was to remind people that the RIAA/MPAA only report inflated absolute worst case (for them) scenarios where something like 1000% of illegal downloads are lost sales.
Impressive... for every download, they claim to lose 10 sales? I'd almost say there was a typo, except that from what I understand, that's not too far from the truth. ^_^ I guess in a manner of speaking it might be too. Download one track from a crappy artist and you're not plunking down the cash for a whole CD. Hmmm...
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
So, a bit like Michael Jackson then?
So, a bit like Michael Jackson then?
Well put -- especially since he owns a Beatles porfolio which should be public domain by now, in addition to his other problem.