[LINK] Fwd: [crimescenewriter] Film Piracy and Terrorism

[Kim Holburn]

What an extraordinary report.  What is it about copyright infringement  
that makes people invent figures out of the air?  I would have thought  
that ease of copying movies on the internet would have cut into the  
market for "fake" DVDs but it doesn't seem to be mentioned at all.

> Because of its image as a victimless crime and the fact that those  
> who buy are complicit in the crime,

those who buy are complicit in the crime?  Or we'll change the law so  
they are.

> information about counterfeiting is sparse and information about the  
> involvement of organized crime sparser still, Treverton said.  
> Because most instances of counterfeiting go unaddressed, there is  
> reason to believe that the more formal data, like arrests and  
> convictions, understate the extent of counterfeiting.

But even though the information is sparse we're going to forge ahead  
and jump to conclusions anyway.

> Researchers say that the losses from film piracy have grown as the  
> expansion of digital technology makes it easier to create high- 
> quality counterfeit copies of movies.

Researchers say?  Would that be researchers paid by the movie companies?

> Film piracy can be even more profitable than drug trafficking or  
> other enterprises commonly linked to organized crime. In one example  
> cited in the report, a pirated DVD made in Malaysia for 70 cents was  
> marked up more than 1,000 percent and sold on the street in London  
> for about $9. The profit margin was more than three times higher  
> than the markup for Iranian heroin and higher than the profit for  
> Columbian cocaine, according to the report.

I seriously doubt those figures.  It also makes one wonder about the  
profit margins for real DVDs.  Using their figures that'd be a markup  
of say nine times higher than Iranian heroin.  (Iranian heroin?  WTF?   
The axis of evil strikes again.  What about the margin for Afghan or  
Burmese heroin?)

> Worldwide, the criminal penalties for counterfeiting are relatively  
> light and prosecution is sparse, researchers say. In France, for  
> example, selling counterfeit products is punishable by a two-year  
> prison term and a $190,000 fine, while selling drugs is punishable  
> by a 10-year prison term and a $9.5 million fine. Meanwhile, just  
> 134 people were sentenced in U.S. federal courts for intellectual  
> property crimes during 2002, contrasted to more than 1.5 million  
> arrests for drug offenses nationally in 2003.
>
> The RAND report says that counterfeiting levels are not likely to  
> decline unless governments worldwide commit more resources and  
> create greater accountability for intellectual property protections.  
> Such a commitment would need to produce stronger anti-counterfeiting  
> laws, consistent enforcement against pirating and stronger  
> penalties, including larger fines and prison sentences.
>
> Other potential solutions include customs and immigration efforts to  
> stop counterfeit goods at national borders, and help from the  
> financial community in spotting piracy syndicates' money-laundering  
> tactics.

Or possibly adapting business models to the technology.

On 2009/Mar/04, at 11:21 PM, Jan Whitaker wrote:

> It had to happen -- the study, not the 'fact'. 'Terrorism' - the new
> excuse for anything.
> Jan
>
>
>> http://www.rand.org/news/press/2009/03/03/index.html
>
>
> Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
> blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
>
> Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or
> sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
> ~Madeline L'Engle, writer
>
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-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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