MPAA says: pirated DVDs are the "new drug on the street"
posted November 16th 2005 1:40PM
Man, we guess our health class teacher was right…marijuana is a gateway drug to the really addictive shiznit. You
know: crack to smack until you slide all the way down that slippery slope to, er shooting pirated DVDs up your HDMI.
See the MPAA is calling pirated discs and DVDs "the new drug on the street," since they've seen "a lot" of people being
arrested for intellectual property crime (IPC) who had drug conviction backgrounds. They continue the puffery with: "We
are aware that serious criminals are profiting from the illegal sales of DVDs. These types of operations are supporting
networks of drugs and other criminal activity that we do not want on our streets." Look, we don't doubt that piracy is
an issue, but it's pathetic when the MPAA (lovers of the
Broadcast Flag, haters of
commercial skippers) resorts to such fear mongering in
hopes of furthering their cause.
[Via BoingBoing]
Just wait until they link piracy to terrorism. Then they'll lobby Congress for special privileges out of concern for "homeland security".
It is only a matter of time.
Damnit! Thats the last time I invest in MDMA! DVD copys are the new drug, and one side effect too, Crappy Movies. Wheres Pablo Escabar's Cousins
Friends phone number?
"its pathetic when the MPAA (lovers of the Broadcast Flag, haters of commercial skippers) resorts to such fear mongering in hopes of furthering their cause."
Hey, it works for the President, why not lobbyists?
WOW... did they just find out that criminals are conducting... um, criminal activities?
"we dont doubt that piracy is an issue, but its pathetic when the MPAA resorts to such fear mongering in hopes of furthering their cause."
Why wouldn't they..? It's the Republican way - link your unpopular idea to something that the ordinary man on the street would obviously be against, even if the link is tenuous at best. Then repeat it at every opportunity until it becomes accepted fact.
Okay. So, when cocaine was the new drug on the street, the DEA dealt with it by not only keeping it from being imported or sold, but also by destroying coca plants found growing in the US.
So, if "pirated" movies are the new drug on the street, that makes them the equivalent of cocaine. And we arrest drug dealers, we should arrest anyone selling pirated movies. And since cocaine is made from coca plants, and pirated movies are made from legitimate movies, and the DEA destroys coca plants to prevent domestic cocaine production, the feds should be destroying legitimate movies to prevent the production of pirated movies.
That'll teach those dirty criminals.
And here's tomorrow's announcement:
"Pirated DVDs Used to Finance Al Qaeda"
If the studios really cared about stoping piracy, they would sell DVDs for less. If official releases cost $10-15, nobody would pay $5 for some dodgy, might-not-work pirated copy. And Blockbuster would be out of business by the end of the year. All this whingeing about billions of dollars of lost revenue is pure crap.
"fear mongering "
A legitimate correlation between one form of illegal activity to another form of illegal activity gets you scared?
Sir, you are a wimp.
This is called "thrashing," and it's nothing short of hilarious.
How desperate do you have to be to connect copying DVDs with illegal drugs etc? I can't wait until we see the terrorism connection! Backing up your DVDs funded 9/11!
Your against show that you don't care about entertrainment companies. They need money to pay thousand to million staffs who they work for. Illegal DVD need to be end.
Pirated DVD's a drug i want to be on .
The new drug on the street! Yeah O.K.!
Sign me up to attend PDA (Pirating DVD Anominous)!!!!
These people just upset because the money is not flowing in. Instead of complaining and crying they should get with the time and with the technology for that matter and make dvd and music easier and cheaper for people to access and use and then maybe people wouldn't " pirate dvd or music". THANK YOU....
What kind of a dope buys pirated DVD's anyway? Just buy some blanks and burn them from Netflix. Sheesh!
Or, hey! You could be a lowlife like Sony and install rootkit spyware on customer's computers!! Either way, you are a lier and a thief! I say Sony's actions cost the public a lot more!
This is just plain silly. I have a hard time believing that there are many people making money on pirated DVDs.
Or, hey! You could be a lowlife like Sony and install rootkit spyware on customer's computers!! Either way, you are a lier and a thief! I say Sony's actions cost the public a lot more!
I hate these people....they look at "potentiall" figures lost by pirating.
Personaly...if a movie is good enough or worth it to me, ill go watch it at a movie theater...most people only download or buy illegaly the stuff they wouldnt pay to watch.
MPAA, worry about yourself!
Here in the Uk, I've definately alread seen adverts saying piracy funds crime and terorists. They're shown before films at the cinema.
Pirated DVDs are a lot like drugs.
A great excuse for the media to spread FUD.
Jack Valenti had the terrorism boogeyman covered years ago.
http://www.mpaa.org/jack/2003/2003_03_13A.htm
In other news, MPAA officials from the vice president level and up have all successfully completed a surgical procedure to lengthen their spines and enlarge their colons to sizes sufficient to accommodate very large craniums.
An anonymous source at the RIAA claims that the MPAA owes them any revenue gained from sale of photos or circus tickets, as "we gave those guys referrals to our clinic, and have we seen a red cent in return? NO."
Coming up at 11: MPAA sues man who stands on corner doing Chewbacca impersonations. Watch the fur fly as they try to take his quarters!
I hate to agree with MPAA but this happens to be true.
My neighborhood alone has numerous Bootleg only DVD stores ran by guess what, EX Drug Dealers.
Its basically run the same way
1 DVD Movie $5
3 for $10 for friends,family & hard times
50 for $100 wholesale to street sellers
500 for $450 sub-wholesale
If I told you how i know, then id have to kill you
Actually, here in Hollywood, most of the street crawlers are still selling bootleg rap CDs and knock-off designer purses and watches. You will see the occasional guy on the bus or train trying to move some DVDs, but the vast majority of the guys hawking goods from out of a trash bag aren't even trying to move DVDs.
Most of the bootleg DVDs I see are in actual storefronts, along with dubiously acquired electronics at cut rate prices, and pre-paid cell phones. I'm sure it's different in other cities, but here it seems to mainly be shady business men moving pirated DVDs, not the drug dealers.
i heard that producing crappy content is the #1 source of piracy.
To the guy saying "it happens to be true" because his neighborhood has numerous bootleg only DVD stores run by "EX Drug Dealers".
You have to recognize that the MPAA is tying these two together because they want to equate selling bootleg dvd's with pushing hard drugs to rally grassroots support behind their cause. But you can't seriously equate selling bootleg dvds with pushing narcotics. Nor could you make a serious argument that the profits from bootleg dvds are somehow supporting the narcotics sales. Dope pushers weren't going out of business before they were able to pirate dvds, pirated discs did not pull them out of a business slump. People always have and always will keep the illegal drug market thriving because people want drugs and the government won't let them have it legally. If there is any kind of real connection at all it reduce the number of pushers out there. Would you rather those "EX Drug Dealers" sell bootleg movies for an affordable (and far more reasonable) price or go back to trying to get the neighborhood kids strung out on crack for profit? But even that connection is ridiculous because if the pushers are now selling dvds you have to be on drugs to enjoy half these movies so there will be new dealers out there to meet the demand.
Simple economics...no wait, common sense.
Oh yeah, and the #1 demographic of dvd pirates are college kids trying to make extra money with their PC.
To the guy saying "it happens to be true" because his neighborhood has numerous bootleg only DVD stores run by "EX Drug Dealers".
You have to recognize that the MPAA is tying these two together because they want to equate selling bootleg dvd's with pushing hard drugs to rally grassroots support behind their cause. But you can't seriously equate selling bootleg dvds with pushing narcotics. Nor could you make a serious argument that the profits from bootleg dvds are somehow supporting the narcotics sales. Dope pushers weren't going out of business before they were able to pirate dvds, pirated discs did not pull them out of a business slump. People always have and always will keep the illegal drug market thriving because people want drugs and the government won't let them have it legally. If there is any kind of real connection at all it reduce the number of pushers out there. Would you rather those "EX Drug Dealers" sell bootleg movies for an affordable (and far more reasonable) price or go back to trying to get the neighborhood kids strung out on crack for profit? But even that connection is ridiculous because if the pushers are now selling dvds you have to be on drugs to enjoy half these movies so there will be new dealers out there to meet the demand.
Simple economics...no wait, common sense.
Oh yeah, and the #1 demographic of dvd pirates are college kids trying to make extra money with their PC.
DVD pirating abuse is a sad and slow spiral that only about 15% of it's victims ever truly recover from.
I've seen the pirate junkies waiting on the street corners.
"i gotsta get mah bootleg of Scrubs! Please tell me ya got season 2 disc 3! I NEEDS MAH DISC 3!"
And the dealers are just as bad...
"Hey mang, whatchoo want? I can hook you up wit' some L-saber 3, some Charlie's Choco, or some Stewie Griffin Delight. Name yah poison, bro. It's dirt cheap. You know you need yo fix mang."
And of course, detox is worse.
"Mr. Smith, you're going through withdrawls. I need you to open your wallet and give the counselor your $20. They're going to give you a DVD for your money."
"NO! I WANT IT FOR $5! I DON'T NEED SPECIAL FEATURES OR BIOS! I JUST WANT THE MOVIE!!! AHHH!"
"No, you DO need the special features. Look, this one has an HBO First Look documentary on it... It also has commentary and a game."
So sad...
Come on, everyone knows the MPAA is right about this.
There is nothing I like more than snorting cocaine off pirated DVDs laying around my house. And when I get the itch, I 'pirate' the pages from books at the local Barnes and Noble to roll my doobies!
I don't buy it. This is totally fake.
The latest MPAA press release was back in August:
http://www.mpaa.org/CurrentReleases/
Silly me, I always thought drug dealers made their profits through DRUG SALES!
Boy, talk about the Pot calling the kettle black.
"What kind of a dope buys pirated DVD's anyway? Just buy some blanks and burn them from Netflix. Sheesh!"
LUPINSTEL!!! I'm shocked and appalled!!! Why...That's tantamount to setting up a methlab in your house !!!
:P
Kidding...but yeah, the kafuffle is kinda silly. Though it is almost certainly true that some of the same people buying/selling pirate DVD's are also involved with illegal drugs...so what ? And I'm sure most serial killers speed on the freeway from time to time. Guess we better stick all those leadfoots in the chair...cause like as not they've all got bodies in the trunk...sheesh...
"Look, we dont doubt that piracy is an issue, but its pathetic when the MPAA (lovers of the Broadcast Flag, haters of commercial skippers) resorts to such fear mongering in hopes of furthering their cause."
Don't they kind of...have to? The USA is a fear-based society to start with anyways. So many copy DVDs nowadays just because they can while they never copied tapes back in the day (since you only need a computer to do it now - two decks? Good God man, ridiculous!). It's a huge problem.
Ha! They must have learned that from a certain president :D
Next up: We have evidence indicating profits from illegal DVD sales are being used to bury weapons of mass destruction in YOUR backyard! Therefor we will now have to extinguish all penguins.