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Leaked RIAA Training Video
An anonymous reader writes "Gizmodo has a clip of that RIAA training video produced with the NDAA for US prosecutors that was leaked to torrent sites a few days ago. It argues they should pursue piracy cases because it leads to bigger and badder wares, like handguns, drugs, terrorist orgs, and hardcore repeat offender criminals. It's kind of sad how far they're stretching to bring law enforcement into the matter."
This is just the same old "gateway crime" argument, which, if history is any example, will inevitably be scientifically proven false by statistical studies showing (perhaps a correlation, but) no causation.
All agressive prosecutors (persecutors?) will fall back on this precept when it starts to become clear the "crime" they're fighting against is victimless and thus shouldn't be considered a crime at all.
I find this is mostly caused by greed and ignorance on the part of the persecuting party and any agencies they employ in their unethical battle.
-WtC
*error 404: sig not found*
Creator of RPerl, Scouter, Juggler, Mormon, Perl Monger, Serial Entrepreneur, Aspiring Astrophysicist, Community Organiz
NO. Fucking stop it.
STOP RIGHT THERE GOVERNMENT.
I am not going to let you use my tax money to start a "War on Piracy" - just like your dumbass "War on Drugs"
STOP. BAD DOG! NO BISCUIT FOR YOU!
Seriously, the only way you can teach these fucking politicians is by hitting them in the nose.
This is the one with Tom Cruise, right?
I have not seen the video but I find it quite humorous when some organization's materials for training/brainwashing are leaked and it makes headlines. I.E. Scientology, RIAA, etc. What would even be funnier if the RIAA took the same position the Church of Scientology did and tried to repress this video.
Repression of information is the first sign of a flawed ideology. As we've seen in many court cases in which they've shut down systems, the RIAA is against any kind of information sharing via P2P software and therefore has a flawed ideology.
My work here is dung.
That many of the 'artists' that the RIAA protects are hardcore repeat offender criminals that are pimping the handguns, drugs etc etc
fsckr.com - go fusk yourself!
While it is good to have employees believe in the company I do not think that is what this video is about. They want high profile crime with media coverage to be associated with piracy. This will cement the "evil" in the publics view of piracy. Even if it is incidental, having that association there will eventually cement the opinion.
Its not saying where you find piracy there will be terrorism. They are saying to law enforcement to use piracy as an excuse to bust otherwise known criminals. This will lead to the association of piracy with hardened criminal activity. Mentioned frequently enough in the news it becomes a very powerful public education tool.
--
Anonymous
Someone should make a video showing how money has ruined Britney Spear's life. If everyone had pirated her music and not gone to her concerts, she wouldn't have the problems she has today.
Do a public service, pirate music save the next Britney.
People on the internet are diverse. Those of us who complain about the RIAA and modern pop music aren't necessarily the same ones downloading their wares. It's no more reasonable to lump all internet users together than it is to lump all musicians or RIAA employees -- less so, in fact, seeing as it's a larger and more diverse group.
Oh, and I have bought CDs I torrented. In fact, I've got a couple sitting in an online shopping cart waiting for another addition or two. You may find it odd, but exposure to music results in purchases.
"Reefer Madness" for a new generation.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
You are correct. People have a choice to consume the media that you produce. People using your media have the right to be paid for what it takes to produce it & to profit from it. For those who complain - the alternative is to create and share your own culture (YouTube, Jamendo etc) and make the broadcast media model irrelevant. This is far better than watching pirated Rambo XIX.
The RIAA behavior is a separate issue. The RIAA and the various DMCA clones should not be breaching personal privacy using dubious legal arguments. This vexatious litigant and should not be using processes and economic power to intimidate ordinary people - the impact on the individual is far greater on the individual than on the RIAA and it's backers.
The penalty for getting caught running a red light is tiny in comparison than the cost of a single copyright breach. The values that allow this is warped and way out of proportion.
I think you and the brown guy are confused about how people get paid. Most people in the "entertainment industry" get a salary or hourly wage for doing their job, just like your average IT worker gets paid a certain amount for performing their job function. The amount of sales of the product in a given month has no direct impact on their paycheck, and they aren't paid a proportion of sales.
However, if not enough people buy the product, the business starts laying off salaried staff to try to reduce their operating costs; or potentially shuts down altogether.
So these "2c are all you'll get" comments aren't clever or insightful or even funny, they just show your ignorance.
Whether or not we should care is another matter, of course.
I was pretty much with you right up until the end. Being a sound technician is a real art that requires alot of dedication and practice, I gurantee you that you will not be even close the their abilities regardless of whose using what equipment in a week or even 5 years. Not to mention that alot of artists and sound technicians aren't payed what they're worth but at least the independent artists are starting to gain alot more traction and it's now starting to be feasible to be your own label.
I may agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to face the consequences of saying it.
It's true, isn't it? Your average terrorist is probably out there pirating software, cheating on their spouses, and experimenting with illegal narcotics.
Of course, terrorists also eat, go to the bathroom, and occasionally bathe too. That's because it's what people do. Correlation does not equal causality, unless you're very well paid to believe so.
The ______ Agenda
Hate to ruin the fun here... seriously I love all of you... but no where in the video were they suggesting that piracy and terrorism, murder or drugs are related.
All that was suggested was that if officers wanted into a suspects home, but did not have enough evidence to issue a warrant on the suspected charges alone, they could use piracy as a means to get that warrant. The intent, which should be obvious by now, is to get into the house so that evidence of terrorism, drug trafficking or violent intent involving firearms might then be 'coincidentally' discovered.
And hey... sounds like it's a great strategy. How many people do you know that haven't pirated anything at all? The police just found themselves a skeleton key.
I can see Bush figuring that attacking Sweden would be a piece of cake, seeing as how they're a neutral country with no army.
But then I can't really find a "more violent crime", especially since I know a number of people who have been captains or senior officers on large long haul freighters that have seen piracy up close. Even cruise ships and private small crafts such as sailboats aren't immune either in some areas.
Piracy can get very very nasty despite the romantic image it currently carries.
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
as a content creator, maybe you can explain to me why if a potential customer gets my software and pays someone else for a pirate copy, that's bad, and if they just pirate it without paying thats ok?
Because in the first case someone is making money off of you while in the second the second they are simply sharing information.
This idea that non commercial theft is ok is just a pathetic justification people use for their own greed.
Sharing information is not greed, it's quite the opposite as a matter of fact. It is a natural human trait that enables people to pass knowledge and culture from one generation to the next.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Haha you Americans are so fucked (up) :-D