First DVD pirate jailed in Argentina
Web tightens
A STREET VENDOR of pirate DVDs has been convicted to serve jail time for the first time, several media in Argentina reported over the weekend. Behind a flurry of anti-piracy activity is the local Motion Picture Association.
We have been reporting for the last few years about the anti-piracy brouhaha in Argentina and how easy it was - still is - to obtain pirate movies from street vendors. But lately there has been a great deal of anti-piracy activity, and for the first time, a peddler of pirate DVD movies must spent time in the clink rather than being given probation and community service.
Local papers Clarin and InfoBAE report a seller of pirated DVDs, was arrested back in May 2005 while selling 239 pirate discs in the street. Finally, this June the speedy justice system sentenced the man to spend ten months in the clink. According to the MPA representative, the pirate got jail time because he had previous convictions for other crimes, like the theft of a mobile phone.
There have been some jail time convictions for pirate music sellers, said the lawyer representing the music industry trade association, CAPIF - a five-month sentence in 2005 and another three-month sentence in 2006. But it's the owners of the copying and distributing centres who are harder to catch, according to the lawyer from the MPA.
The Movie Editors Association - UAV - has started targeting DVD rental shops as well. UAV says it executed seven search warrants between January and March of this year, pocketing 27,690 counterfeit movies from "legal" DVD rental shops.
In other countries, justice - when it acts - is more lenient with street vendors. Last month, an appeals court in Murcia, Spain lifted a twelve-month jail conviction imposed to a street seller of pirate CDs and DVDs claiming that "criminalising this last link in the chain would do little good to stop the illegal activity of those who really conspire against intellectual property rights". In Spain, the court concluded that the street seller in no way intended to sell those counterfeit CDs with the intention of damaging someone's intellectual property, but instead wanted to get a few coins - undoubtedly just a few - to stay alive.
No such luck for street vendors in Argentina, it seems.
Jail terms also vary widely apparently with little relation to the amount of material found. In a recent anti-piracy sweep, a pirate who was selling movies and music CDs through a web site he set up for the purpose got a five month conviction, even though he was found in possession of 11,411 recorded discs ready to sell (see photo). Regardless of jail time, parole and court rulings, one thing is for certain: the MPA and the UAV seem to be stepping up their anti-piracy efforts on all fronts. µ
L'INQs
Inf
oBAE story on the jail conviction (Google Translate)
Spain
piracy news story (Google Translate)
Comments
Can we ask some of the artistes if they are happy someone is in jail for selling their cd's?
Can you ask some of the artistes if they are happy someone is in jail for selling their cd's?And can you ask them if they feel more ripped off by the music business or by the pirates.
Jon Bon Jovi once said that singing to a record company was like selling his soul. Once they have you, they have you. But since he flies around in a private helicopter seems like he did ok out of it!
Argentina justice
Of course, selling a pirated DVD is a crime, but highest criminals are never convicted here. We suffer a explicit criminal president that robbed the country for decades and continue doing it violating our Constitution to capture illegal taxes and he still walk free, ahh, but a DVD pirate is a terrible crime...Bon Jovi should sell his cds directly
In terms of the Bon Jovi thing, if Bon Jovi wants to sell to me directly, I'll very happily pay $10-$15 a cd.But I'm not to interested in buying from the record companies. Same thing with the singer turned actor Will Smith, not much interested in making the people who employ the MPAA and RIAA richer, but if Will Smith wants to sell directly to the customer, I'll be the first in line.
Put also in Jail
The factories that make dvd burners for computers, the ones who makes burners for cd's, the creators of software to copy movies, cds, programs. Finally tell to the producers to make them cheaper, south american countries will never pay for a playstation or any other games $50 dollars, if they can pay 3-5 dollars for it....put on jail all the presidents, and other politics who ruined the country for years and years, but not in five stars jails, regular ones same than the one if get's someone who steal a piece of bread....then a burn dvd, will be a joke!