MPAA Agent Poses As Homebuyer To Catch Pirates

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MPAA Agent Poses As Homebuyer To Catch Pirates

Posted by Unknown on Tuesday May 22, 2012 @04:48AM from the as-seen-on-tv dept.

bonch writes "The MPAA used an undercover agent posing as a potential homebuyer to gain access to the home of a British couple charged with running a streaming links site. UK authorities decided not to pursue the case, but the MPAA continued, focusing on a Boston programmer who worked on the site, leading to an unprecedented legal maneuver whereby U.S. charges were dropped in exchange for testimony in a UK fraud case."

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Outsourced eh? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-22 04:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

I guess even police work and evidence collection is getting outsourced these days....
On a serious note, what right does the MPAA have to place 'undercover' agents?
1. Re:Outsourced eh? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-22 05:11 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Read the story: MPAA were the ones that siezed the equipment under police guard, did the investigation of the equipment themselves, and then even were allowed to participate in the questioning.
  There is a problem here.
2. Re:Outsourced eh? by MickyTheIdiot · 2012-05-22 05:23 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Bullshit. Major problem here. The MPAA isn't supposed to be a governmental organization. They have no business participating in a raid.
Re:Suing the programmer? by klingens · 2012-05-22 05:22 · Score: 5, Insightful

Simply blackmail in a legal way: you sue the programmer in the US so he has to spend tens of thousands of dollars to defend himself: that will bankrupt him. Or he won't spend that amount of money to defend himself and the torts from the lawsuit will bankrupt him. Now the MPAA has a lever and can coerce the programmer to testify for them.
Welcome to the legal system of the United States of America. If some people with italian sounding names did such a thing, they'd be prosecuted under RICO.
Re:Clarify by operagost · 2012-05-22 05:28 · Score: 5, Insightful

Sounds like gaining entrance to home under false pretenses should be prosecuted as fraud as well.

--

Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Re:I feel like... by NardoPolo88 · 2012-05-22 05:29 · Score: 5, Insightful

Welcome to the return of the Pinkertons.
hollywood accounting is stealing by Dan667 · 2012-05-22 05:33 · Score: 5, Insightful

where are the laws to stop that?
Re:Clarify by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-22 05:35 · Score: 5, Insightful

Sounds like the couple aren't the ones who should be charged with fraud. Verifying the identities of the 'interested parties' would have likely quashed this whole debacle before it progressed into the absurdity it is now.
If the MPAA/RIAA are going so far as to infiltrate your home with 'actors' to thwart copyright infringement, they really have hit the bottom of the cesspool. That's absolutely disgusting!
Re:Clarify by TheSpoom · 2012-05-22 05:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

It's only a crime if the people in power say it's a crime. Right now, the people in power are the MPAA.

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It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
Re:Clarify by poetmatt · 2012-05-22 06:20 · Score: 5, Insightful

Please. They've sued dead people. If you think this is rock bottom you've forgotten the last 12 years.
Re:Clarify by MachDelta · 2012-05-22 08:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

Private corporations are not law enforcement officers.