Friday , March 29 2024

Real Pirates

While file-sharing exists in a gray area where fair use and infringement overlap
and intersect, commerical pirating of recorded material for profit is just all wrong. It is stealing pure and simple. I would much rather see the RIAA and law
enforcement focus their efforts on these unambiguous bad guys than harass
individual file-sharers, who are after all, music fans and customers.

There was a big bust in New York earlier today:

    A New York operation accused of pirating music to the tune of millions of dollars was raided this week by U.S. Secret Service agents and record industry investigators in what they called the largest ever seizure of music piracy equipment in the U.S.

    About 35,000 pirated CDs, 10,000 DVDs and the equivalent of 421 CD burners were confiscated, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said in a statement. Three people were arrested in the Monday raid in an industrial complex in the New York City borough of Queens and charged with trafficking counterfeit labels, criminal copyright infringement and trademarket counterfeiting, RIAA said.

    The RIAA trade group, representing major recording labels, said the piracy operation had the potential to cost the industry an estimated $90 million annually. About 25 percent of the product seized was Latin music, the RIAA said. [Reuters]

Between piracy and payola running rampant, the Latin music biz is in deep oaxaca.

About Eric Olsen

Career media professional and serial entrepreneur Eric Olsen flung himself into the paranormal world in 2012, creating the America's Most Haunted brand and co-authoring the award-winning America's Most Haunted book, published by Berkley/Penguin in Sept, 2014. Olsen is co-host of the nationally syndicated broadcast and Internet radio talk show After Hours AM; his entertaining and informative America's Most Haunted website and social media outlets are must-reads: Twitter@amhaunted, Facebook.com/amhaunted, Pinterest America's Most Haunted. Olsen is also guitarist/singer for popular and wildly eclectic Cleveland cover band The Props.

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