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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."
What a great phrase! Makes me nostalgic for Doctor Who...
Poor means hoping the toothache goes away.
14GB of MP3s? I'd bet that one in three Slashdotters has at least that much. Anyone know what the "crack the headers" bit refers to for CDs?
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
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.
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
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!
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
You think they would have figured out how to get the equipment off-site.
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- Douglas Adams
"Capitol Records"
Thank you, I'll be here all week.
Trolling is a art,
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Line 3 needs more cowbell.
Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em
Pff... That's not a audio/video studio... that's just a guy downloading and burning some DivX movies.
I think "tens of thousands in state funds" is possibly a bit of an exaggeration.
Kayamon
This suffice it to say reinforces the image of public sector workers abusing their state privaliges. I remember an interview with Wanda Sykes where she talked about her other job at her job while working at the state. I am a very strong supporter of teh privitization of many Government agencies. I'm sick and tired of seeing my tax dollars being wasted by over payed gum chewing counter people who have no clue.
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!
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.
If big boobed women work at Hooters do one legged women work at IHOP?
Was it gigabytes of "Take Me Home Country Roads" on mp3 and the movie "Deliverence"?
"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!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
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...
picpix image polls. create - share - vote. fun!
Ferguson recently fired two division staffers, Gary McClanahan and Gary Bryant, after they claimed they had worked 18-hour days 119 times over the course of 2 1/2 years. Ferguson said a $466, 24-inch flat-screen computer monitor was found in Bryant's office but that no evidence suggests either man orchestrated the computer purchases.
Sometimes, an 18hour work day is exactly that.
Some places allow practically all the overtime you can log - simply because its cheaper to let you work greater hours than to hire/train somebody up to your role.
Firing them because they were hard workers is wrong.
Firing them because they made fraudulant claims is right.
(they do sound like the BOFH and PFY though don't they)
liqbase
"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?
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.
Are we back into the days of yellow journalism here?
tens of thousands in "piracy equipment"? "computers and video gear"?!
last time i checked my 3 towers and 9 hard disks didn't cost tens of thousands (and two of them are macs!)
piracy setup? come on now! a tower with dvd decryptor and a couple hundred gigs of avis and mp3's is now a vast piracy setup. that's funny. If this is the headline for such a pitifully small collection, i wander if the headline for the arrest of someone on my res hall would read "international organized piracy syndicate taken down".
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
I think that this case underscores how little government bureaucrats understand about the technology being used in their own buildings right under their very noses. Far too often when someone tries to bring a technical matter to the attention of someone with the authority to do something about it, they get The Hand in the Face... 'uhp, uhp, uhp, I don't want to hear about it... if it's not about a massive campaign contribution I don't want to know.' Well, when the suits from the media companies come knocking, well, The Hand in the Face tactic isn't going to work.
This sig, aah-ah, is comin' like a ghost-sig...
The RIAA's argument is that a computer owner should know what their children or other users are doing with their computers and are thus responsible for any piracy that occurs using said computer. By this same logic the RIAA could sue the State of West Virginaia, but of course, the RIAA wouldn't do that. They only go after individuals.
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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.
From TFA: "Not all the purchased computers and gear can be located, Ferguson said."
Any technology distinguishable from magic, is insufficiently advanced.
Is it possible that most of that $88K went to legit computer purchases? 40 movies, 3,500 MP3s, and oh-so-common DeCSS software is all easily fit into one normal PC. And hundreds of blank DVDs/CDs isn't all that much - it's $100 worth of merchandise found on newegg. Sure, this guy was copying movies, but wouldn't bet that this is one of those "zero patient" cases.
Well, what are they getting axed?
How many Slashdotters actually know what the capital of West Virginia is without having to look it up?
...I have heard in a long time!
The real issue here is not that someone had 14GB of mp3s or 40 movies; that simply makes for a better headline. The real issue is that someone in the capital was abusing the purchasing system and bilking the state for all they could. Buying barebones PCs on one purchase and then purchasing the remaining components on a separate order is a big no-no. It means that the PCs appear to be far less expensive, and exempts them from inventory control systems. The purchases basically fly under the radar, and the goods could be anywhere now; some other office, somebody's house, or sold on eBay.
a tower with dvd decryptor and a couple hundred gigs of avis and mp3's is now a vast piracy setup. that's funny.
You've never actually been on a drive through West Virginia, have you? Mind you, it's beautiful (the part that isn't up on blocks). For a state that's got a lot of territory just a short drive from the nation's capital, it's a funny mix of demographics. But yes, a rig set up (however modestly) to crank out physical copies of pirated media probably is a big deal to a lot of the locals.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
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.
I am not your blowing wind, I am the lightning.
/. should know better than to use the word "piracy". It is a demonisation term.
The capital of West Virigina? Probably about $25...
Nephilium
{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?"
I am a government employee. (work at a small college). Had a broken Digital Projector. Called them up, described the problem, was told that $PART was broken, and it would be $2400 to fix. I kind of went silent for a few minutes, and pointed out that their new projectors of the same Lumens cost $1500. Do customers really do this? His response was that sometimes, especially with government accounts, there is no budget for new equipment, but money in the repair budget. I remember saying, "So instead of spending $1500 on a new projector with a warranty, they spend $2400 on repairing a 3 year old projector? Don't you feel good about where your tax dollars are going?" I have seen this far too many times in government. Rules are so strict and rigid (often because of abuses) that it is easier to spend twice as much money than to get approval to move the amount from one budget account to another..
What are we going to do tonight Brain?
My boss bought himself a 30-inch monitor (for way more than $466), but he's salaried. Should I tell him to be careful? ;)
"Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
40 Movies and 14 Gigs of Mp3s? You would almost need a WHOLE ipod Video just to hold all that stuff! And what IT worker has 14 gigs at his disposal?
Sheesh, next he'll want more than 640KB of RAM.
Hundreds of blank DVD's? Oh wow, that's absolutely insane, considering they only sell them in spools of 50-100. I mean, i wouldn't even know where to put 2 or 3 WHOLE spools of DVD'rs, let alone hide them from satellite imagery.
Being landlocked, I doubt W.VA has a pirate problem to speak of.0 31203a.htm)e .htm?site=http://www.iccwbo.org/home/news_archives /2002/stories/piracy%2520report%2520Oct2002.asp)e .htm?site=http://www.iccwbo.org/ccs/imb_piracy/wee kly_piracy_report.asp)
Now, here is some info on REAL pirates and piracy:
"Modern Pirates Thrive on Global Trade" (http://globalization.about.com/library/weekly/aa
"Pirate attacks against ships increase, ICC report finds" (http://globalization.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsit
and last but not least:
"Weekly Piracy Report" (http://globalization.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsit
Now, enough FUD about piracy!
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Carrot and the Stick.
RIAA: "See the nice juicy carrot, you know you want the carrot"
Congress: "Mmmmmm, carrot"
RIAA: "Now we want you to pass a law making it legal for our representatives to hunt iPod users, because piracy supports terrorism, and all iPod users are pirates."
Congress: "Welll, I don't know...there are a lot of iPods out there..."
RIAA: "This is a stick. This is what you get when you don't get the carrot. Wouldn't you rather have the carrot?"
Congress: "Well, yea, but we can't just..."
RIAA: "BAD CONGRESS! *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* BAD LEGISLATORS MAKE THE BABY JESUS CRY! *WHACK* *WHACK*"
Congress: "Owwwww...okay, okay"
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
And the license bureaus are a model of business efficiency? They're not. Government contractors? Known for fleecing the government whenever possible. As long as they're only semi-private and therefore not open-market profit-driven, they're going to be like that. It's the profit drive that makes business efficient and tends to weed out corruption and waste. Not all of it, even then, but yes, it does better than government. It can't do that if there's no money in doing what they're doing.
"Specifically, one hard drive contained approximately 40 full-length motion videos," state Chief Technology Officer Kyle Schafer said in the Jan. 5 memo to Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson. "Two other hard drives contained over 3,500 MP3 music files consuming more than 14 [gigabytes] of hard drive space."
That sounds more like my iPod than a big time piracy operation.
Still, I hope they fire them all.
--fatboy
Why do so many of you feel the need to insult West Virginia? The majority of you have never even been here. You know nothing about us.