Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Who let the IP dogs out?


Meet Flo and Lucky, two dogs hounding out piracy from Malaysia's borders. These two black Labradors are part of Operation Double Trouble (now, there's a name destined for film fame). This operation is funded by the Motion Picture Association, which invested $17,000 USD to have the dogs trained in Northern Ireland and then sent to work in Malaysia's cargo ports and border crossings. The dogs have been hugely successful, their noses have led to 13 arrests and the confiscation of 1.3 million pirated DVDs. Nevertheless, success has been hard on these IP hounds, crime syndicates are offering $29,000 USD to whoever can get their paws on our canine heroes, they must be barking mad! (apologies for the gratuitous dog-related puns).

However, the highlight of the article is this gem:

The MPA’s senior vice president and Asia-Pacific regional director, Mike Ellis, highlighted the discovery in recent raids of child pornography alongside pirated movies. “Piracy is frequently linked to other insidious activities,” he said. “Consumers should be aware that their purchases of pirated movies fund the ongoing illegal operations of the movie pirates, who may also be profiting from the distribution of child pornography."
From IP to child pornography in one quote. Nicely done.

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