Piracy Setup Discovered in WV Capitol Building

arakis writes "Someone in West Virginia has apparently spent tens of thousands in state funds to acquire computers and video gear to copy movies and music. From the article: 'Ferguson confirmed Tuesday that his staff found the makeshift audio-video studio amid his widening probe into spending and other abuses at the state General Services Division.' Looks like some employees are getting the axe for everything from purchasing abuse to time fraud."

Comments

Time Fraud?

[GuruBuckaroo]

What a great phrase! Makes me nostalgic for Doctor Who...

Re:Time Fraud?

[rbochan]

After I RTFA, I was very sad.

I was soooooooo hoping that this was in Orrin Hatch's office or something...

Re:Time Fraud?

[rwven]

I was thinking something like:

And they found movies that were rated AAARRRRRHHHHH!!!

Re:Time Fraud?

[joincamp]

Time Fraud is a real thing. It isn't a joke. It's when you're paid to do one job but you do something else. Like when you hire a lawyer to work a case for you, and they are charging you hours while they are actually doing something else.

you mean like we are all doing right now at work? oh crap!

MPAA/RIAA vs Feds

[pvt_medic]

so the question is will the MPAA and RIAA go after the state government? Will the state turn the individuals responsible over to these private companies.

Obviously, they were fighting terrorism

[Dark Paladin]

We know that the MPAA has claimed that buying pirated movies supports terrorism.

Therefore, these proud patroits in West Virginia (death to all tyrants!) were simply providing a means for Americans to purchase pirated movies without supporting Al Queada (or however they spell thier name). After all, we've learned that breaking the law is perfectly legal as long as you put the words "fighting the war on terrorism" in front of it.

Now, if we can just get them to take care of that whole "get money from oil revenues to finance terrorism" thing, and we've got it licked!

Re:Obviously, they were fighting terrorism

[anothy]

True story:
I lived in London for a little over a year. Towards the beginning of my stay, I was the butt of quite a few "dumb american" jokes. That's okay, I was a good sport; besides, most of what they were saying was both true and funny, so whatever. But the following, about two months into my stay, is when i realized the British are the only people on the planet more blissfully, ignorantly parochial than Americans.

On a whim, a co-worker asked me in front of about a half dozen or so others, how many states there are in the US. I laughed, responded 50, and turned to go back to work. And then the fun started.
"Ah! He doesn't even know how many states there are!"
Beg your pardon? We had to look it up online to convince them that there were, in fact, 50 states, not 52 as half those in attendance were claiming (the other half abstained from the discussion).

Once that was settled, the conversation moved on to defense and justification: "Well, you don't know how many counties there are in England!" That's right, I don't. But if you were to tell me there were, say, 17, I'd believe you. 'Cause it's your friggin' country! Never mind the fact that counties are much smaller than states, about the size and power of counties in most US states. But my favorite was the ending of the argument:

"Okay, so which two don't you consider states?"

For a good time, try to get a brit to explain to you the relationship between Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and England, or ask them which one issues their passport. Good times all around.

Heh

[grub]

"Capitol Records"

Thank you, I'll be here all week.

INCOMING

[heauxmeaux]

27585 27585 17199 17199 88345 88345 80753 80753 34404 34404
58442 58442 71825 71825 43587 43587 07411 07411 66063 66063
60332 60332 55898 55898 32544 32544 14840 14840 01840 01840
14734 14734 92368 92368 53795 53795 74519 74519 71528 71528

Line 3 needs more cowbell.

I bet the CIO/IS Director is a MBA

[Kylere]

1. Take one college educated idiot (Usually a MBA)
2. Place in charge of a group of geeks who actually know their jobs
3. Pay Fines!

Re:I bet the CIO/IS Director is a MBA

[m93]

As one of those geeks under him; I say you are correct!

Re:I bet the CIO/IS Director is a MBA

[Anonymous Coward]

as an MBA, I find your comment utterly vulgur and unnatural. None of the geeks that work under me would ever do such a thing. I have system logs from /dev/null that show nothing is going on.

Look on the bright side

[thaerin]

his staff found the makeshift audio-video studio amid his widening probe into spending and other abuses at the state General Services Division.

Look on the bright side, maybe the person(s) behind the purchases were filming some amateur porn and the state can sue their earnings to recoup some extra cash.

Did Anyone Check The Content?

[Black-Man]

Was it gigabytes of "Take Me Home Country Roads" on mp3 and the movie "Deliverence"?

21st Century underground

[digitaldc]

"As we continue to peel back the onion, every time we turn a corner we find something else that doesn't look right," Ferguson said.

And I remember when covertly distilling Moonshine was a problem!

Re:21st Century underground

[Elvis Parsley]

I'm just wondering where they're finding onions with corners.

"Motion video?"

[nathan s]

From the article: "...one hard drive contained approximately 40 full-length motion videos..."

As opposed to what? Videos of still images? Someone sitting there with a photo album and a camcorder, I guess...goes to show you what people will do when they don't have a scanner...

Square onions

[SchrodingersRoot]

"As we continue to peel back the onion, every time we turn a corner we find something else that doesn't look right," Ferguson said.

I didn't know onions had corners. But you can bet that onions with corners wouldn't look right.

On another note, hahahahahahaha. Awesome.^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H--I mean...how awful.

Only 40 movies and 3,500 mp3s?
Whatcha wanna bet that the gear that hasn't been located yet has a lot more? And a nice CD and DVD archive nearby?

Could be done cheaper....

[slashname3]

The government always over spends. The whole operation could be done much cheaper. Most readers on /. probably have the equipment to rip and burn cd/DVDs and have not spent as much as they claim to have spent.

But maybe they are using numbers provided by RIAA or MPAA. Those always seem to be inflated.

Re:Obviously not the brightest bulbs in the pack.

[Anonymous Coward]

But then you'd have to pay for the power and cooling your self. Not to mention the capital probably has pretty good bandwidth to share all the warez.

Piracy in the workplace is common

[Anonymous Coward]

Ask anyone in tech support who has had to work in a bloated bureaucratic building overpopulated with secretaries. My favorite encounter was cleaning a couple thousand pieces of spyware off some secretary's computer. While I was doing that, she and another secretary were copying DVD movies on their computers, as well as their boss's computer. Apparently the boss was gone for the day. So basically, I was helping her burn DVDs faster.

Thank you Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Re:Oh, no!

[rylin]

Sharpies.
Lots of them.

Re:Obviously not the brightest bulbs in the pack.

[Rifter13]

They problably just assumed no one else knew what to do with a PC, so it was safe. :-)

some employees are getting the axe

[timster121]

Well, what are they getting axed?

Best use of government funds

[bobcat7677]

...I have heard in a long time!

OT: Sig reply

[Kiaser Zohsay]

If big boobed women work at Hooters do one legged women work at IHOP?

There is an IHOP in Gastonia, NC that is located on Cox Road. Urban legend has is that they used to answer the phone "IHOP on Cox". Say it out loud for the full effect.

Re:The $25,000 question

[mopslik]

There are two capitals in West Virginia: "W" and "V".

My will is too weak to avoid the obvious joke...

[Nephilium]

The capital of West Virigina? Probably about $25...

Nephilium

Ask Slashdot

[mjpaci]

{jesting}"I have access to almost unlimited funds through a closed-source purchasing system. I have identified a number of holes in the system that would allow me to syphon off funds to purchase a "pirate studio" and install it in the basement of the capitol building. Since I'd rather not pay the Microsoft tax, could you recommend a "free" (as in beer) solution for my embezzlement?"

Re:Oh, no!

[Stan Vassilev]

"14GB of MP3s? I'd bet that one in three Slashdotters has at least that much."

When translated from DontSueMe to English this goes like: "14GB of MP3s? I have at least as much." ;)

Legal advice

[yEvb0]

My boss bought himself a 30-inch monitor (for way more than $466), but he's salaried. Should I tell him to be careful? ;)

Re:The RIAA Could Sue

[Anonymous Coward]

From South Park...
[A mansion, somewhere, day. The agent has taken the boys for a ride and arrived here. He leads them to the main gate]
Detective: This is the home of Lars Ulrich, the drummer for Metallica. [they approach a bush] Look. There's Lars now, sitting by his pool. [he's seen sitting on the edge of a chaise longue, his face in his hands, softly sobbing]
Kyle: What's the matter with him?
Detective: This month he was hoping to have a gold-plated shark tank bar installed right next to the pool, but thanks to people downloading his music for free, he must now wait a few months before he can afford it. [a close-up of Lars sobbing] Come. There's more. [leads them away. Next seen is a small airport at night] Here's Britney Spears' private jet. Notice anything? [a shot of Britney boarding a plane, then stopping to look at it before entering] Britney used to have a Gulfstream IV. Now she's had to sell it and get a Gulfstream III because people like you chose to download her music for free. [Britney gives a heavy sigh and goes inside.] The Gulfstream III doesn't even have a remote control for its surround-sound DVD system. Still think downloading music for free is no big deal?
Kyle: We... didn't realize what we were doing, eh...
Detective: That is the folly of man. Now look in this window. [they are at another mansion, and they look inside a picture window] Here you see the loving family of Master P. [He's shown tossing a basketball to his wife while his kid tries to catch it] Next week is his son's birthday and, all he's ever wanted was an island in French Polynesia. [his mom lowers the ball and gives it to the boy, who smiles, picks it up and drops it. It rolls away and he goes after it]
Kyle: So, he's gonna get it, right?
Detective: I see an island without an owner. If things keep going the way they are, the child will not get his tropical paradise.
Stan: [apologetically] We're sorry! We'll, we'll never download music for free again!
Detective: [somberly, dramatically] Man must learn to think of these horrible outcomes before he acts selfishly or else... I fear... recording artists will be forever doomed to a life of only semi-luxury.
...

This really is news

[spidergoat2]

I didn't even know they had computers in West virginia, much less know how to use them.......

Re:Oh, no!

[Mad Marlin]

I most certainly don't have a 300GB hard drive full of nothing but music and movies ... not at all ...