Word: mpaa
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...Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has a new weapon, make that two new weapons, in its war against DVD piracy. The only downside is they have to be walked twice...
...Lucky and Flo, two black Labrador retrievers, hold the distinction of being the world's first dogs trained to detect pirated DVDs. This week in a demonstration at MPAA headquarters in Washington, D.C, the two-year-old Labs proved their olfactory talents to a roomful of customs officials, FBI agents, reporters and U.S. Department of Commerce piracy czar Chris Israel by successfully sniffing out DVDs hidden in baggage and containers set up for a test...
...goes as planned, MPAA officials are hoping Lucky and Flo will be the first of a pack of DVD-detecting dogs to be trained and stationed at airports, shipping yards and other points where pirated DVDs are smuggled into the country. Success in stopping illegal DVDs before they hit the streets would be a major blow to piracy, which is the most serious problem facing the movie industry today, accounting for $18.2 billion in lost revenues in 2005, according to the MPAA...
...Piracy affects many economies and results not only in lost revenues but lost jobs," says Los Angeles MPAA spokeswoman Kori Bernards. That said, it's a tough crime to stop. Typically, pirates use handheld camcorders to tape movies in theaters, upload them on the Internet and send them to contacts in a foreign country, where they are replicated and distributed to illegal dealers all over the world...
...years ago, when the Federal Trade Commission accused movie studios of peddling adult entertainment to kids, I wrote something for TIME.com that, I think, applies today to the MPAA debate...