MS, Hollywood: Mob rules pirate world

CNET News.com ^ | March 13, 2003 | Declan McCullagh

[gaucho]

MS, Hollywood: Mob rules pirate world
By Declan McCullagh
CNET News.com
March 13, 2003, 11:42 AM PT
URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-992492.html

WASHINGTON--Hollywood and Microsoft are uniting to warn Congress that their intellectual property is being stolen and resold by organized-crime gangs around the globe.

Software and movie DVD counterfeiting is an acute problem, with criminal gangs operating factories in Russia, Malaysia and other countries that have weak copyright laws, Microsoft and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said Thursday. Jack Valenti, president and CEO of the film industry group, and Richard LaMagna, a manager of Microsoft's antipiracy investigations, testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee .

"Large, violent, highly organized criminal groups are getting rich from the theft of America's copyrighted products," Valenti said. "Only when governments around the world effectively bring to bear the full powers of the state against these criminals, can we expect to make progress."

John Malcolm, a Justice Department official who oversees the computer crime division, warned the panel about the connections between copyright piracy and terrorism.

"Organized crime syndicates are frequently engaged in many types of illicit enterprises, including supporting terrorist activities," Malcolm said. "All components of the Justice Department...will do everything within their power to make sure that intellectual property piracy does not become a vehicle for financing or supporting acts of terror."

LaMagna said Microsoft has developed anticounterfeiting features, including an edge-to-edge hologram that covers an entire side of a CD-ROM and is etched into recent versions of Microsoft Office.

"So far, counterfeiters have found it impossible to replicate the edge-to-edge technology," LaMagna said. "As an alternative, they have developed holographic stickers that, when attached to the CD-ROM, closely resemble the look of the edge-to-edge hologram. Recent versions of these fake stickers found in Asia are of such high quality, few consumers would be able to detect the counterfeit."

LaMagna expressed cautious support for a change to federal anticounterfeiting laws that would close what he called a "loophole." Currently, federal law covers only "counterfeit labels," not fake holograms or other packaging material. It has long been illegal to sell copyrighted products, such as the discs themselves.

Last year, as previously reported, a bill was introduced to Congress that originally was designed to address the hologram issue. But it morphed into something that would make it a federal felony for people to try and trick devices into playing their own music or running their own computer programs.

[gaucho]

The WOM (War On Music) now claims that piracy funds terrorism. Ya, sure. They will say anything to scare people so that they can pass draconian DRM (Digital Rights Management) laws and charge you a tax for buying media. Maybe the music biz should consider a few things first, such as lower price points that are more realistic with what the public is willing to pay rather then raping the consumers and the artists, and an aknowledgement that their current business model no longer works.

[Hodar]

Let's see, warez pirates (software hackers) who break security codes and distribute patches, code for free counstitute organized crime? Music pirates who share their CDs again, free help fund terrorism.... with no money.... I could give some credence to their claims if they would provide some shred of evidence. Peronally, I think sharing music contributes to Global Warming and poorer gas mileage of SUV's.

[observer5]

Microsoft doesn't own any Intellectual Property.

[goodnesswins]

LOL....I needed a good laugh this morning!

[longtermmemmory]

yes they do, they own the name "microsoft" and the idea behind the douus in the butterfly costume. They also own the ABSURD idea that consumers want .net to have all their private information on one central server which is not in their own private personal control at home.

[longtermmemmory]

nuts! douus = DOUFUS

[HumanaeVitae]

You've got to love Hollywood and the music industry. What have they been selling to teenagers for the past forty years? This:

"Rebel against your parents! Rebel against your teachers! Screw authority, and make your own rules! If it feels good, do it!"

After forty years of that, should they be surprised when kids say:

"Right on dude! I'm going to rebel against the authority of the record industry! I'm not going to pay one thin dime for my music or my movies! Yeah!"

What is the entertainment industry going to say, "No! No, we still want you to respect us and pay for your entertainment...we were just joking!" Cat's out of the bag guys. Your bed, you made it...

[aimhigh]

Since Microsoft wants us to police the world now, I assume it's pro-war.

[Jhoffa_]

OTOH, if everyone simply purachased their music and computer software, as opposed to stealing it, then we wouldn't have these problems.

If we wind up with some kind of a digital copyright protection tyranny over this, I blame the thieves.