Authorities
on the scent of DVD pirates
Optical media pirates around the world have something
new to worry about - Lucky and Flo - 2 black Labrador
retrievers who've been trained to sniff out counterfeit
discs.
While it's more usual for enforcement agencies to
train dogs to detect drugs or explosives, Lucky
and Flo have been trained to detect the smell of
polycarbonate and other chemicals used in the manufacture
of CDs and DVDs.
Although unable to distinguish between CDs and DVDs,
pressed or recordable or even fake and legitimate
discs, the fact they can pinpoint discs in boxes
and containers mean the authorities are able to
identify illegal discs, as legitimate ones tend
to be registered on the shipping manifests.
On a recent month long operation in Malaysia, Lucky
and Flo helped to uncover over 1,000,000 illegal
discs across a number of raids with a combined street
value of over $3million. They have made such an
impact that an official of the Motion Picture Association
(MPA) claimed they had received information about
a bounty being placed on the dogs and so have increased
security around them.
DVD movie piracy is a huge problem for the film
industry and, according to the Motion Picture Association
of America (MPAA), lost $18.2 billion in 2005 because
of piracy operations around the globe.
See Also:
> Motion Picture Association (MPA) - Press
Releases
> BBC - Pirates
put bounty on dogs' heads
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