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."

Comments

pirated movies/games....

[npfscayle]

I'm all for free movies, but when people sell them, they should get arrested.
Save the bandwidth for me. :)

Re:pirated movies/games....

[macdaddy357]

Yeah! And when the cops let murderers, armed robbers and rapists run amok beacause busting simple copyright infringers pays a kickback, that's cool too. After all, you get free bandwidth! ;b

strange

[scenestar]

For a rightious organisation out to protect the lawfull rights of artists they have a rather odd way of practice

Money making

[markild]

"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?

Re:Money making

[laird]

"Surely the can't expect that their raids of arrests will provide them with more sales."

If I understand your claim, I think you're wrong.

Yes, I think that they do in fact think that when people buy bootleg copies of DVD's that they don't buy legit copies of the DVD's, so shutting down illegal manufacturers (i.e. factories that manufacture DVD's that they don't pay royalties on, and street vendors who burn DVD-R's and don't pay royalties) they reduce the supply of bootlegs and thus increase sales of legit DVD's.

Is there something there that you disagree with?

What's worse?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:What's worse?

[vadim_t]

Not every crime is equally important.

I think I can see the logic of this - most cops probably don't give a damn about who's selling DVDs, especially since the people who do it (at least here) are usually immigrants (sometimes illegal) who have a very poor knowledge of the language and can't get a job.

Doesn't seem to be much point to me in arresting some guy who managed to get some income that way, when there are much more harmful people out there. I think most cops would be pretty happy with that at least they're not selling drugs or mugging people.

Re:What's worse?

[Sparxter]

Maybe because some of the cops already break the law at home, away from work. Personally if I was a cop I wouldn't give 2 hoots about piracy. I'd care more about the person being mugged 2 streets away

As a cop I can tell you that this is indeed the case. As a small department with a lot of area to cover, piracy is the LAST concern any of us have. To put it in perspective I would rather write someone for J-walking...

Re:What's worse?

[zotz]

"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."

Sure, if it were as simple as that. But could it be that you are buying a change in their priorities? For instance, they really should be dealing with the mugger that has been in Central Park recently, but because of your "tips" they ignore the threat of physical harm to citizens and instead help you enforce your copyrights.

Another thought just came to me. Haven't I seen something in the news recently about cities refusing to have local police enfore federal laws? So aren't copyright violations, violations of federal laws? Was this the FBI getting "tips" or city cops? Hmmmm. Anyone care to bat this thought around?

all the best,

drew

Re:What's worse?

[macdaddy357]

No surprise there. Police agencies intentionally reject applicants with high intelligence. Don't believe me? Check this out, or this, or this. A cop who can't spell his own name would not surprise me.

Re:Umm.

[Omniscientist]

No. Law enforcement is a public service. What they do is to be expected, not rewarded. Tipping will lead to favoritism which must be avoided.

Telemarketer called you; you're on the do not call list?
click here

Re:Umm.

[ForestGrump]

So where do you draw the line between tipping an officer for doing you a "favor" and bribing him to do you a "favor"?

Campaign funds

[BrookHarty]

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.

Which it be?

[n0dalus]

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?

Life is easy...

[William Robinson]

Uh.. No Officer.. I just read it on slashdot that you accept cash.

I am not surprised

[andydread]

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.

Re:Why not?

[commodoresloat]

"You say they lose $x billion per year to the underground industry is ludacris"

No, no; a lot of other bands are being copied too, not just Ludacris.

Re:Umm.

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Irregular verb

[Anonymous Coward]

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

This wouldn't surprise me..

[Adult film producer]

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.

Re:This wouldn't surprise me..

[squiggleslash]

Arbitrary arrest and imprisonment goes against the constitution, so far as I'm aware. I believe that there's something in the constitution about a right of "the people" to "peaceably assemble" and about "freedom of speech".

Now, I've been on mass protests. Except I was fortunate to do so in a free country, Britain. I marched with several hundred thousand people about a topic I must admit I've changed my mind on since in the early nineties. And been with several thousand people protesting on another issue at roughly the same period.

Unlike America, I wasn't arrested or under threat of arrest and the authorities cooperated with the protest and its organizers. In Britain, the right to protest is not considered something to be stamped upon. Riots are rare because the tactics designed to provoke them are rarely if ever used by British law enforcement. You don't, for example, as is common in the US, herd protesters into a closed area, surround them, and then order them to disperse or be arrested.

In most free countries, the right to protest isn't dismissed as easily as you do:

So the police make a bunch of arrests among large crowds of people then drop the charges later.

I really don't have a problem with that. It is a widely practiced tactic in highly charged crowds. If the DNC had been held in Austin Texas the same thing would have happened.

We don't consider extreme limitations on the right to protest compatable with freedom. Indeed, the day law enforcement appears to be deliberately doing what it can to stir up trouble, the day it clearly starts making arbitrary arrests, et al, is probably the day the government doing this work finds itself likely to be thrown out. We don't do that kind of thing. We don't tolerate it. And we find it bizarre the country whose countrymen usually pride themselves on the degree of Freedom they have consider their right to start a business and then fire employees for what they do in their spare time as more important than the right to protest.

Not that I'm saying all Americans are like you. I know plenty that aren't, right and left. But I'm surprised that, generally, you don't get the kind of backlash against Fidel Castro clones in local government in the US as you do in other western democracies. Maybe, because you, as citizens against a government, haven't had to fight for basic democratic freedoms for the last 250 years, many of you have forgotten how important they are.

how ironic

[Sv-Manowar]

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.

Why is it that....

[sugapablo]

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?

Re:Why is it that....

[AtariAmarok]

" bet the MPAA thought that while their actions might have been *technically* illegal, they certainly weren't hurting anybody. Sound familiar?"

The next step is to call them thieves.

Bad cops bad cops

[AtariAmarok]

Bad cops, bad cops

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.

Hypocrites

[Kaorimoch]

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.

Laws enforced only if officers tipped.

[AtariAmarok]

"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".

Re: you missed the "why"

[BitterAndDrunk]

There are two ways to improve the bottom line for a firm:
Increase Sales
Reduce Cost

The MPAA considers piracy to be a "cost" that they wish to control, to assist their bottom line.

Criminal activity is normal for the RIAA

[bani]

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.

Re:Criminal activity is normal for the RIAA

[Daniel Dvorkin]

The MPAA and RIAA are different the way the Mafia and the Yakuza are different.

come on

[nomadic]

You're SUPPOSED to tip police officers, it's only common courtesy.

How much to have someone arrested?

[bcmm]

How much does this great service cost? I can think of people I would like to have arrested...

Re:They may be bad, but....

[Tassach]

"Cartel" or "Trust" is a more accurate description of the MPAA and RIAA.

There's a reason there's a law called the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

A true Republican president would be fighting against the trusts, unlike the corporate whore who occupies the White House.

Re:Umm.

[Triskele]

I'm a Brit and we generally don't tip. It used to be considered insulting in many sectors - "I work for a living I don't need charity" or "Am I a serf?". In fact I will tip if service and the meal is particularly good.

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...

This is about the MPAA not the RIAA

[Andy_R]

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)

Wrong

[BitterAndDrunk]

"well, they are fully responsible for the piracy themselves!"

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.

Re:Wrong

[Chuq]

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.

I didn't realise DVDs being taken off store shelves was such a huge problem in the US.

(Hint: If you meant "copyright infringement", say it. Don't say "steal", as that means something else.)

Re:Wrong

[JayBlalock]

Just to take the contrary position: Say you were to put your money into a bank, and it turned out the bank's preferred method of security is to leave the money in piles out on the floor. Obviously, it gets stolen. While in the strictest sense, it's a case of one person committing one crime, only a fool would say the bank was not partially at fault, since their policies made the theft so attractive.

An extreme case to be sure, but I wanted to illustrate the point. A business has to take reasonable safeguards for their product *AND* make sure they have a viable business model. When the entire world is clamoring for lower prices on music\movies, with the customers being fully aware that these products can be obtained far more cheaply (or for free), then the media conglomerates are inviting piracy by refusing to respond to the market.

And that's what it all boils down to. The world is moving towards digital distribution, and the media companies are doing everything in their power to try to stop that from happening. They are refusing to update their business model for a new generation. This SHOULD be death for a company. Instead, they have grown so large that they simply attempt to outlaw the new technology that threatens their 1950s mentality.

Now, personally I think pirates who *profit* off their wares are scum that deserve to be locked up. BUT, that does not mean that the media companies are in any way blameless. The world is changing; they refuse to - and this is the result.

Re:Wrong

[scsirob]

Assuming there's about 20 years difference between 'now' and 'when you were a kid', then today's 50 cents is less money than the 33 cents back then. It's called inflation.

If today's bar was raised to $14.99, then I would indeed call it the store's fault for trying to make unfair amounts of profit. Which just happens to be what the MPAA does...

The MPAA has to step into reality by understanding that their super-profitable distribution system (CD, DVD) no longer fits today's reality. They should try to adjust instead of fighting the inevitable.

What kind of cop are you?

[MisterSquid]

The only cop I would ever expect to surf Slashdot is Robocop.

Cheers, officer. Just having a funny.

Re:I think DVD prices are not too high...

[digidave]

Yeah well thost Babylon 5 sets cost just pennies to manufacture. The shows were already produced, so no production costs went into making them for the DVD. A few special features cost very little: a cameraman might cost $20/hour and the interviewees are probably not paid at all, or maybe a couple hundred bucks. There is more profit to be made on TV show sets because production costs are nearly zero and costs are still high.

So, tell me again why DVDs cost as much as they do? Ah yes, what the market will bare. Looks like a significant portion of the market has decided that prices are too high.